


Don't Trust a Demon

by dannykkrose



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Demons, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Limbo eventually, canon means nothing to me, kurtty - Freeform, limited graphic violence, there is no timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:12:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 23,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dannykkrose/pseuds/dannykkrose
Summary: Amanda stirs up a lot of trouble for the X-Men, and ultimately herself, in her quest for vengeance.





	1. Traitor

**Author's Note:**

> If you like Amanda Sefton, don't read this work. She is the villain.  
> This is my first long story being posted here. I hope you enjoy and find it interesting. I mostly write for myself, but I'm posting to support the fandom.  
> I ignore most of canon and timelines. Ages and such things have been changed and ignored. This sort of goes with my fic about the first time Kitty and Kurt meet, where she's older, but you don't have to read that one first.

The sword sliced easily through the Shi'Ar enchanter's torso. His face contorted into a mask of shock and pain for only seconds, while his life force was sucked free of his body. His killer watched impassively as the alien's body slowly writhed in a growing pool of blood, then shriveled before her eyes, until the skin was nothing more than a deflated balloon. She inhaled, reveling in the sensation of newfound power as it flowed through her spirit. This was the most powerful mage yet, she reasoned, based on how strong she felt now. She used the remains of his clothing to wipe the blood off her precious sword, taking a moment to admire her handiwork. It had taken her years to forge the sword, using pieces of her own soul, as Illyana had done when she created the iconic Soul Sword. _This one_ was better. It didn't just take magic power away, it funneled life and power from the victim directly into _her_.

She took only a few more moments to enjoy the feeling of victory—her mother would be so pleased to learn that their plan was progressing so perfectly. One more moment passed as she silently vowed again to succeed where her mother could not. Then she vanished from the scene, leaving behind the crumpled corpse of a Shi'Ar magician, and not a trace of who had killed him.

The murder made the news that evening and the X-Men, both in the US and Europe, took notice. This was the eighth such attack, and so far the authorities had no leads on the perpetrator. Two members of Excalibur, based in Scotland at Moira's mutant research facility, watched with growing concern. Until now, the murders were only that—horrible murders, all being handled by the proper government authorities. With the death of a Shi'Ar, they had now taken an even more dangerous turn.

“They're gonna kill us,” Kitty muttered from her position on the couch next to Kurt.

He patted her shoulder. “I fear their retribution will be swift and merciless, _Kätzchen_. Hopefully Hank and Storm are reaching out to them already.”

“I don't know if it'll make any difference. Remember when Lilandra was captured? They didn't even want to give us time to find her. They just wanted to blow up the planet.”

“ _Ja_ , but who thwarted them, _mein_ _lieber_ _freund_?”

Kitty smiled in spite of herself. _They_ had. She and Kurt had stopped a revolt on board the ship, which saved the entire planet from annihilation and bought the other team of X-Men enough time to find Lilandra and return her to the Shi'Ar.

“Somehow I don't think we'll be able to use a fake Phoenix this time,” she said, squeezing his hand.

Kurt started to reply, but a bright light behind them, followed by bubbles of displaced air, stopped him. His girlfriend Amanda had returned. Kitty moved to the chair across the room before the woman finished materializing.

“Hello everyone,” Amanda said in her tone of false camaraderie she reserved for Kurt's friends. Kitty didn't like her, but jealousy wasn't becoming, so she bit her tongue and smiled back.

She felt Kurt's eyes on her across the room, before he turned to greet Amanda.

“Welcome back,” Kurt said.

Amanda's mouth twisted into her version of a smile, smug and self-assured as always. She sashayed around the couch, throwing Kitty an unseen scowl before taking a seat on Kurt's lap. “Hello, lover,” she said, “Have I missed much?”

Kitty closed her eyes to avoid rolling them. The news droned on, and Kitty fixed her attention on it. She was chilly now that she was sitting alone. She thought absently about keeping blankets in the common room. Then she glanced at her friend again, telling herself again that she _wasn't_ jealous and knowing it was a lie.

Kurt and Amanda had been together almost as long as Kitty had been with the X-Men, and no matter how many times Amanda left him, Kurt always took her back. Amanda treated him like a proverbial doormat, expecting him to be waiting for her upon her return. She handed him her problems and expected him to fix them without question. She cheated on him and when confronted by anyone about it, merely shrugged and dared them to tell Kurt about it. The one time Kitty had taken her up on it had been a disaster. Besides vehemently denying the possibility, he was so angry at Kitty over it that he didn't speak to her for three days. She'd given up after that.

“Another attack,” Kurt replied. “This time a Shi'Ar mage. We'll be lucky if we can avoid a war with them. They aren't likely to take it well.”

“I'm sure the X-Men will find a way to placate them,” Amanda said, pulling Kurt's arm around her shoulders. “I missed you while I was in Germany.”

Kitty excused herself and went to the computer lab. Amanda was obviously in an amorous mood, and Kitty wasn't sticking around for that. Instead, she decided to give the X-Men a hand at investigating the Shi'Ar murder. She researched the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Her first thought was to look for connections, besides their use of magic. Unfortunately, even _that_ varied wildly. Some were sorcerers, some aliens, some wielded objects of magical power.

Kitty was sure there would be another, more specific, connection somewhere. She was especially interested in learning if the victims had enemies. Perhaps they had one in common. She settled herself in front of a computer and started looking.

Hank McCoy was doing the same thing in Westchester. Scott, Jean, and Ororo all agreed there must be a link somewhere, and if they could find it, they might be able to appease the Shi'Ar by offering justice for their fallen comrade. Again and again, Hank's search led him back to the school files. After the fourth return, he finally conceded to digging in a little more. What he found was distressing. He picked up the phone.

“Hi Hank,” Kitty said when she answered the call.

“Have you been following the news of this Shi'Ar murder?” Hank said.

“Yeah and it doesn't look good. Have they fired on us yet?”

“Not yet, but I want you to run a few things for me, to double-check. And I need you to keep this between the two of us for now.”

Kitty felt the tingling of nervousness as she started plugging in Hank's findings. She watched as data spooled, hardly believing what she was seeing. Classified information from the X-Men's servers had been downloaded and leaked via email to an undisclosed recipient. There were only a few people with access to all that information, and there was one access code being used repeatedly. All of the leaked information was personal data on the murder victims. There was no particular pattern to the timing, but each incident corresponded with the death of a mage.

Hank waited silently on the other end of the line for Kitty to finish looking at everything.

“Hank,” she said, her voice trembling, “This can't be right...it _can't_ be...”

“I just wanted to make sure you saw the same thing I did before I sent someone to deal with it. I'll have Scott and Jean come over in the Blackbird.” Hank sighed. “Kitty, I know this is hard. But you can't let on that you know. We'll make sure to do a thorough investigation, though. I promise.”

“I won't say anything,” she whispered, and cut the connection. She stared at the data, heartsick at what she was seeing. He was giving secrets away. Secrets that resulted in the deaths of eight people so far. How could anyone sit there, watching news report after news report, acting concerned and worried, all along knowing who the killer was? She could hardly believe it, and yet there it was.

Every single file had been accessed with Kurt Wagner's code.

 

Kurt half-listened while Amanda prattled on about her week away from him. She'd been to see their mother, she'd been to Stefan's grave, she'd done this and that, on and on. He watched the news out of the corner of his eye and wished Kitty hadn't left. Brian and Meggan passed through and greeted Amanda before hurrying back out. There was a nagging itch at the back of his mind when it came to Amanda, something that always felt out of place, but which he couldn't quite identify. It was less the way the team acted around her, and more the feeling that he _himself_ was off-balance.

Kitty locked herself in her room and dumped the stack of paper on her desk. She pulled up her own computer and logged in again, poring over access logs and dates and praying it was a mistake. Kurt wouldn't betray them, would he? She felt sick to her stomach as she pulled up the video data, hoping it would prove someone else was using his access code, but there he was, unmistakably blue, logging in and pulling up the files in question. She tapped a few keys and the bio-scans confirmed that it was indeed Nightcrawler in the surveillance videos.

She jumped at the knock on her door, followed by Kurt's familiar greeting. She briefly considered pretending to be asleep, but she had tried that on him one too many times in grumpy moments. He wouldn't fall for it, and then he'd pester her, wanting to know why she wouldn't talk to him. She opened the door, rubbed her eyes and hoped he'd believe she was tired.

“I thought you'd like to know I got a call from Scott. They spoke to the Shi'Ar diplomatic council, and they've agreed to hold off on killing all of us for a while. Scott said they have a lead they want to pursue.”

Kitty felt the color drain from her face and forced a smile. “That's, uh, that's _great_. Thanks for telling me. Hey, I'm really tired, so I'm going to bed. See you...” she didn't finish.

Kurt cocked a brow at her, but didn't question her. Amanda was here. He wouldn't waste time trying to pry Kitty's worries out of her tonight. Still, he hesitated before stepping away from the door.

“Sleep well, _Kätzchen_.”

“Thanks. You too.” She _hated_ this.

The door was almost shut when he came back. “Are you all right?” he said.

“Yep. Just tired,” she said, impressing herself with how normal she sounded.

She shut the door quickly and leaned her head against it to cry. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Sobs shook her, and she shoved her fist into her mouth to muffle the sounds. _That_ would definitely bring him back, and she couldn't look into his eyes and lie again tonight. Kurt was her best friend. He was supposed to be the one she could always count on.

It felt like hours before she was calm again. When she glanced at the clock though, it had only been twenty minutes. She picked herself up off the floor, shoved her feelings deeper inside where they couldn't hurt her, and went back to the computer. There _had_ to be some other explanation for what was happening. She simply couldn't reconcile the Kurt she'd known for years with a traitor willing to give classified information to a murderer.

She heard Scott and Jean come for him. It was late, almost midnight, and he wasn't expecting them of course. _Especially_ wasn't expecting them to collar him and telekinetically restrain him. As Scott led him out of his room, Kitty leaned against the door. He insisted it was a mistake, but it didn't sound like he was fighting them.

“Scott, you've known me for years, I would never do something like this,” he said. Scott didn't answer. “Jean? Do you really believe this? Read my mind, you'll see,” he offered.

Kitty was tempted to open the door, but she didn't want to watch him being taken away. Sounds of movement had stopped. Jean must be reading his mind. Her voice came, soft and sad, “Let's go, Scott.”

“ _Was? Was hast du gesehen 1_? Why are you still taking me away?”

Kitty finally worked up the courage to open her door, and was surprised to see Amanda standing in the hall. She settled her weight on one hip, arms crossed, and silently watched Kurt being dragged away. Amanda's face was set like stone. She glanced at Kitty briefly, snarled and flipped her hair, and went back into his room. Kurt looked back at Amanda and Kitty, briefly catching Kitty's eye before he turned away. Scott and Jean kept passing looks between each other, obviously speaking via telepathy. Just before they stepped out of sight, Kitty heard Jean's voice in her mind, “ _I'm sorry_.”

She went back into her room, and returned to her research. If there was an explanation somewhere, she was going to find it. Otherwise...she might never see him again, or only behind bars if she felt like visiting. Kitty fell asleep at her computer. When she woke up, stiff and sore, she went back to work, but no matter where she looked, she came back to the same answer. Kurt had accessed classified files and emailed them to an outside source. And each time, someone had died.

  


  


 

1What? What did you see?

 


	2. Seeds of Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief look at why Amanda is so full of vengeance. The Amanda chapters will be short.

Some years earlier....

“We must have more power,” her mother said. “We must not rest until we are powerful enough to defeat him.”

“And the others too,” her daughter added, watching with awe as the other woman floated above the ground, swirls of eerie green smoke wafting around her.

“Yes, darling, everyone who has ever hurt us. They will all pay.” Her mother moved her hand over the book again, breathing deeply and chanting softly. Then she said, “My path is precarious. Should I fail, you must carry on. I will share with you all my knowledge and all my secrets, because we must avenge our family.”

“I won't let you down, Mother,” she vowed, thinking of the men who had left her family destitute, forced to eke out an existence in a circus, hated and scorned by everyone around them.

She left her mother to continue her meditation, tiptoeing out of the wagon into the crowds of people. _Yes_ , she thought, _they would pay_. Some of the people stared at her, recognized her uniform. Some were awed, some curious, some pitying. Who were they to pity her? She was going to be the most powerful woman in the world.

Her lover was in the back, practicing. She sidled up to him, touching one hand to his chest. “ _You_ think I'm wonderful, don't you?” she whispered in his ear, sprinkling in her mystical words as she did.

“Of course,” he replied, and kissed her. She had enthralled plenty of people by this point in her life, but he was by far the most fun. After all, _he_ was the greatest reason their family suffered so. Making him her slave was the least she could do to ease her pain.

 


	3. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Poor Kurt. Life is bad bad bad right now. He has no clue what's going on. Will anyone believe him?

Kurt didn't understand what was happening. Scott and Jean had shown up, slapped an inhibitor collar on him, restrained him, and accused him of being a traitor. He had no idea what they were talking about, but Scott was good enough to explain to him. 'Humoring' him, he said. They said he had given top secret information to a third party, who used it to kill the magicians. Jean had read his mind, too, and been satisfied with what she saw. If he couldn't remember doing these things, what else might he have done?

Hank showed him the access logs. He showed him the dates of the murders and how they corresponded. The more they showed him, the greater his panic at not being able to remember. It felt like his arms and legs and tail were numb. In his mind, on repeat, was the fear of what his friends would think. What _Kitty_ would think.

“Hank, _mein_ _freund_ , you have known me as long as I've been on this team. Surely you don't believe this...I _would not do this_ ,” Kurt insisted as Hank stood outside the holding cell in the basement of the Xavier School. Kurt had gone willingly, hoping his cooperation would help his cause somehow.

“It's not what I _believe_ , it's what the evidence shows. It's _your_ access code. The bio-scans agree with the video. It's _you_. It's not a shapeshifter. Even Kitty saw it.”

His blood felt too thick. “And does _Kätzchen_ , too, believe me to be guilty?”

Hank sighed. In his heart, if he was being honest, he didn't think Kurt was the kind of person who would do this, but he had seen people change. Piotr had nearly murdered one of Excalibur's colleagues. Xavier...Hank didn't like to think about that. Perhaps with Kurt, too, there was something going on that none of them knew about. He _claimed_ he didn't remember doing any of these things, and maybe that was true, but Jean had seen the memories. They were _there_. Unless they found something huge, it wasn't looking good for his fellow blue-furred mutant.

“I think so,” Hank said quietly.

Kurt hung his head. She was possibly the only one who _might_ be willing to listen to him, and maybe even believe him, but if she already thought he'd done it...he was lost. His heart ached knowing she thought he was a criminal, a conspirator, an accomplice to murder.

He called back as Hank moved away. “Could I speak to her?”

“Actually, yes. She is scheduled to arrive later today. She's going to be assisting me in the investigation and acting as your defense.”

 

Kitty didn't want to make small talk with her friends when she arrived, but they gathered around her anyway, asking about Kurt and Excalibur, and what she thought of the Shi'Ar murder. Only Logan stayed away. She kept her cool until someone asked how it felt to have Kurt lie to her like that.

“Hank,” she snapped, “I have work to do. Let's go.” She strode from the room, and the rest of the X-Men went back to their lives.

Alone in Hank's lab they studied the files and access logs and email records for the millionth time. She felt like she'd seen them enough to memorize them, but she kept going back, hoping she'd find an obscure word or name or phrase that would prove it wasn't him after all. She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. They _must_ be overlooking something important.

Hank played another video soundlessly. “We need audio on these,” he mumbled.

“You agree, this is weird, right?” Kitty wanted someone, _anyone_ , to tell her it was not like Kurt, to agree that she was right to have doubts.

“It is out of character, I'll agree to that.” Hank tapped his claws beside the keyboard. “I haven't found the account owner yet,” he said, preferring to focus his energies on the issue at hand, rather than Kitty's emotional quandaries.

Kitty propped her head up wearily and glanced at her friend. “That should be a priority,” she said. “It might give us a lead.”

“It _is_ a priority, however I wish to install some new surveillance equipment before we do any more research,” he said. “Especially useful during interrogations, don't you think?”

“Yeah,” Kitty said as Hank started handing her boxes of equipment. They worked in silence for a long time, first in the interrogation room, because the hallway cameras would have to be accessed from within the wall itself. That would be Kitty's job later.

“He wants to talk to you,” Hank said as they connected the first set of cameras and audio sensors.

“Yeah?” She didn't look up from the wires she was twisting together.

“Asked for you specifically.”

“What'd you tell him?”

“That you'd be here later. It's up to you, Kitty. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to.”

“Of course I do. If I'm going to help you figure out what's going on, I have to talk to him.”

She refused to believe Kurt would do this. She couldn't come up with any motive that made sense. She thought she knew him well enough to figure _that_ out at least. After all these years, she knew when he was in a bad mood, even when he was laughing. She knew which jokes about his appearance bothered him and which didn't. She could anticipate most of his plans when the team had a new mission. But this left her at a total loss. It simply didn't line up with the Kurt she knew and loved, even with all the evidence pointing right to him. He wouldn't betray his family like this.

Kitty almost dropped the screwdriver, the thought hit her so hard. She recalled a series of events, not too long ago, before Pete had left her. Kurt was possessed by the necromancer Gravemoss. Amanda showed up, killed Gravemoss with the Soul Sword, and then gave the sword to her mother. Margali used it to kill those ahead of her on the Winding Way, gaining more power with each death. Kurt's foster mother had then infiltrated the London Hellfire Club in a failed attempt to drain power from a demon under the city. Though he loved his foster mother, Kurt always said Margali was power hungry. Margali had killed all those sorcerers to gain power from them.

Could Margali have something to do with the events unfolding now? Would Kurt be willing to betray his team, his found-family, for the woman who had raised him? Kitty sat down heavily and rambled while Hank listened. It seemed like everywhere she looked, more and more evidence mounted against him, and there was nothing to suggest he _hadn't_ done it.

“It would definitely be a motive,” Hank said, pushing his glasses up with one finger.

Kitty was refreshed with new determination. “Let's finish this. I have questions for him now.”

A few hours later, the installation was done. Kitty stood outside the holding cell where Kurt was sleeping. Normally she'd hate to wake him, but under the circumstances, she didn't really care right now.

“Hey,” she called, and banged the cell bars.

He jerked awake, saw her and almost fell off the bed in his haste to get near her. “ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen,_ you're here,” he said. He gripped the bars like the old cliché images of prisoners. She took a single step back when he reached for her hand. He looked hurt, and Kitty couldn't meet his eyes. “You _do_ think I did it.”

“I don't know yet. It's hard when everything points to you.” She folded her arms across her waist. “Talk to me, Kurt. Did you do it?”

“No,” he replied. “I did not.”

“We have access logs, video, Jean saw the memories in your head. Do you have any explanation for that?” She took a chance. “Was it for your mother?”

He snapped his head up and fixed her with an astounded expression. “Margali? No! Why would I help her?” He shook his head. “You think I'm helping her _kill_ people?”

“I don't _know_ ,” Kitty said. “This is so...I don't know.” She slid down the wall opposite his cell. She was emotionally drained, she couldn't think straight. She should have taken a nap at least before coming here. He would know exactly what to say to sway her. “I need to know everything if I'm going to help you. We were friends. You can tell me anything.”

_Were_? Did she not consider them friends any longer? How could he have fallen so far so quickly? He went back to his cot and sat down. “I thought if there was one person who might give me the benefit of the doubt, it would be you.” Not Amanda? That was interesting. “I have no way of proving anything to you. I have only my word.”

If he was lying, he was very good at it, and he was saying exactly the right things to make her sympathetic to his case. She wanted to believe him, though. She wanted to trust him.

“Look,” Kitty said, standing up. “I'll see what else I can find out. I mean, I'm gonna do that anyway. But you have to help me. You _have_ to talk to me.”

“I wish there was something I could tell you. If only so that you would believe me.”

“I'm _trying_ to believe you. I _am_. Isn't there _anything_ you can tell me?”

He looked up, resignation and defeat in his features. “I don't remember any of it.”

“Maybe that's something,” she said, chewing her lip in thought. “You've never given me a reason to doubt you before. I'll see what I can find out. Maybe it's Mystique or something.”

He glanced up. “I don't think so. They used the bio-scans.”

She started to leave but he called to her one last time. “ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , will you come back again?”

She paused at the door. “Yeah. I'll come back.”

 

Kitty was more upset by their talk than she hoped she'd let on. All the evidence pointed to him. _Everything_ , even his own words, so why did she find herself still believing him? She resolved to find out who the email recipient was, and set to work on that immediately. That would give her more answers. She worked late into the night, hacking and getting kicked out of servers and trying again. When she finally got into the account, it was almost three in the morning. All the emails were there. There were also outgoing emails to other undisclosed addresses, and others that had come in. Kitty clicked through them, looking for any clue to the identity of the account holder. Most of them were links or responses. There were no names in any of them. By four, she couldn't keep her eyes open. She left the page open and the laptop on her desk to finish in the morning.

She dreamed Kurt was trying to kill them all.

 


	4. Guilty Verdict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get worse before they get better.

The laptop was missing. Kitty knew she'd left it on the desk, and it was gone. Hank pulled up the GPS locator for the electronics, but it wasn't responding. It was just _gone_.

Kitty paced. “Are you _sure_ he can't get out of that cell?” she said, hating herself for even thinking it.

“Positive. You can see the surveillance feeds, too,” Hank said.

“No, if you're sure, then never mind.” Kitty chewed her lip. “But that means someone else is involved, and knows what we're doing, and is _here_. Has anyone else been to see him besides me?”

Hank looked at her guardedly. “No. Only the two of us.”

Kitty stopped pacing. “Not even Logan?” She realized she was quickly becoming a suspect, too. That was a distressing thought. She suddenly understood how Kurt must feel, assuming he wasn't lying.

Hank looked up and took his glasses off to wipe the lens. “He doesn't want to talk to him.”

Kitty should have known Logan would take it hard. He wouldn't want to believe his best friend could be a traitor, but neither would he want to talk to him if he was.

“It's gonna take me all day to hack back into that damned email account, Hank. It'll be wiped clean, too.”

“I know. I'm sorry, Kitty.” She rubbed her temples and sighed. She might as well go see Kurt first.

 

He was hanging from the ceiling. Sticking to surfaces wasn't a mutant ability, more of a physical attribute, and therefore unaffected by the inhibitor collar. He dropped down when she walked in, but he didn't approach the bars as he had the previous day.

“I hacked into the email,” she said.

His face lit up. “Whose is it?” he asked, a note of desperate hope in his voice.

“I don't know. It was late, and I went to sleep. Someone stole the laptop with all the data.” She watched his expression melt into despair. He sank onto the cot and didn't reply. Kitty continued, “I'm going to hack it again today. Hopefully I'll get in before four in the morning this time.”

He looked both grateful and sad, and Kitty was certain there was a lot more to this mystery than she and Hank knew.

Kurt noticed Kitty rubbing her eyes. If she'd been up until four in the morning, she couldn't have slept much. Ordinarily he would have ordered her to get some sleep. “Have you eaten anything?” he asked instead, and she leaned against the bars of the cell.

She shrugged. “Some. Have you?”

“ _Nein_ , not today.”

“Want a sandwich?”

“Will you stay and eat with me? It is exceedingly lonely down here.”

“Sure,” she said, though she had far too much work to do to waste it eating. Maybe she'd bring the laptop with her.

“ _Danke_.”

She studied his face. “Are you _sure_ this has nothing to do with Margali?”

“The _only_ thing I am certain of is I do not know anything about what is going on, except I'm accused of betraying everyone I love.” His voice was clipped, and she didn't ask him anything else.

When she brought the sandwich, he apologized.

“I'm sorry for speaking to you like that. I know you're trying to help. I'm so frustrated.”

“It's all right. There's just something...I don't know. That feeling when a word's on the tip of your tongue.” She sat down on the floor in the hall and put her own sandwich next to her. He didn't talk to her while she worked. He never did, unless it was important. Something about sitting in his company made her heart feel heavy. She imagined never being able to find the truth, and having to visit him for years down here. She pressed her hand to her head when she finally got into the account. As she had suspected, there was nothing left.

“ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_?” his voice seemed far away, and she flinched at the sound of it.

Kitty looked up with a huff and said, “Account's wiped.”

She watched him take it in. “Eat your sandwich, _schatz_.”

She wanted to cry. He was probably going to be found guilty—maybe he _was_ after all—and he wanted her to _eat_.

 


	5. The Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If only all my chapters could be titled after Tom Petty songs. (I miss him)
> 
> I think they're starting to figure out a few things at last.

Scott, Jean, and Ororo weren't in any hurry to pass judgment while Hank and Kitty were still investigating. Kurt remained in the holding cell for two weeks while they pursued every possible lead, and some that didn't seem possible at all. Since the laptop had been stolen from within the mansion, they knew someone was working with him. Motives, they didn't have, but they only needed to find out who it was. Kitty knew Hank was keeping a closer watch on her, too. She couldn't blame him.

On a whim, she pulled up all the video from Muir Island, and cross-referenced the dates of the classified access and the murders with Excalibur team members, X-Men, and other people he knew. The teams were both clear, Alistaire and his group was clear. Moira's team, scattered around the globe, was clear. Then she checked Margali, fully expecting to find a match, and rather shocked when she didn't. But that led her to check Amanda.

She was always on Muir when the files were accessed, and she was always gone when the victim was killed. Kitty remembered her arriving just after they learned about the death of the Shi'Ar enchanter.

Kitty presented Hank with her theory, but said nothing to Kurt. He agreed it looked like she could be the outside party involved. Perhaps even the murderer.

“It makes more sense than him working with Margali,” Kitty said. His relationship with his foster mother was strained at best, but he and Amanda had remained close through the years, to Kitty's consternation, and in spite of everything, he would help her without a doubt. “She could have stolen the laptop, too. She's a sorceress, Hank, she could... _damn_. She could be watching everything we do.”

“I think we should invite Miss Sefton to visit so we can talk to her,” Hank said.

“I don't trust her,” Kitty said. She put her head in her hands. “Oh, god, what if he really is working with her? What if he really _did_ do this?” She put her head down. It was becoming harder and harder to find reasons to believe he was innocent.

“His guilt has been a possibility from the start. More than that, a _probability_. That's nothing new, Kitty. But Amanda's possible involvement _is_ new, and we have to see what we can learn from her. Do you think she'll talk to you?”

Kitty snorted. “Ha, I doubt it. She _hates_ me.”

Hank raised a brow but didn't comment on that. “Perhaps then she will talk to Kurt.”

Kitty lifted her head. _Audio surveillance_. Hank was a genius.

Hank put in the call. Amanda wasn't at Muir, but two days later, she returned his call. “Hello, Hank. What can I do for you?” she asked. Hank put her on speaker so Kitty could listen. Everything was being recorded.

“Of course you know what has happened with Nightcrawler,” Hank began.

“Yes, of course. You came and dragged him out of our bed in the middle of the night,” she said, as if it was an inconvenience to her.

“Yes, and as you also know, he's being investigated for treason. He hasn't been very forthcoming with information, and we were hoping you might be able to convince him to tell us what he knows.” _Flattery_ , Kitty thought. Hank really _was_ a genius.

Silence on the line for several seconds, then a long exhale. “All right. I can try,” she said, and Kitty shivered. She never understood what Kurt saw in her.

Amanda arrived moments later on a teleport disc. It occurred to Kitty that Amanda hadn't asked about Kurt's welfare, or bothered to visit him at all in the past weeks. _Strange_ , she thought, _for a woman he's been dating over three years, even if she is a conceited, manipulative pest_.

Kitty stayed away and let Hank and Scott deal with Amanda. They escorted her to the holding cells and Kitty watched from the hidden surveillance cameras. Amanda looked disinterested at first, and didn't say anything for a while. Scott and Hank walked out, and Kurt spoke first.

“You finally came,” he said.

“They asked me to.”

He didn't move, didn't reach out to her. “You don't care,” he said, as if he realizing something for the first time.

“Not really. It doesn't make much difference. I'm sure they'll find a way to exonerate you, even though it's obvious you did it.”

“It's only obvious because I _have no memory_ of it and no way to prove myself innocent.”

“You've got the memories. Jean saw them. You're not innocent, Nightcrawler. I watched you pull those files.” Kitty's eyes went wide at the same time Kurt's did. She glanced at Hank.

“Does Amanda know she's being recorded?”

“She knows there's _video_.”

“Audio?”

“I may have neglected to mention that.” He grinned and pushed his glasses up.

Kitty focused on the screen again. Amanda was talking. “I'm supposed to try to get you to admit what you know, but you can't because you don't remember. Convenient for me, isn't it?”

“What are you talking about?” he said, and now he did grab the bars. “Amanda, what is going on?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, lover.”

“Of course I need to worry! I'm accused of something I didn't do!”

“I told you, Kurt. You _did_ do it. I was _there_. I _saw_ you.”

“Amanda...” he sounded broken and lost, and Kitty felt a pang of longing to comfort him. How could she though, with Amanda down there confirming everything they feared?

“Hank, this is bad.” Kitty put her head in her hands.

“I know it.”

“I'll come back later,” Amanda said, and Kitty turned away from the screen.

Hank stood up to escort Amanda to a room for the night. “I don't think I'll mention this to her yet. Let's see what else we can learn first.”

Kitty wanted to stay away, but she couldn't. Her heart drew her to him like it always did. She waited for Hank to leave, and then slipped into the hall outside Kurt's cell. He was lying on the cot, his back to the bars.

“Hey,” she said, and he jerked his head up.

“ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ ,” he said, but didn't get up or turn around.

“So, uh, did you two have a good talk?” she said, pretending she didn't know anything.

“ _Nein_. She said I did it, Kitty. She said she saw me accessing the files.” He sounded defeated.

He had just told her Amanda thought he was guilty and was an eyewitness. Why would he do that if he was guilty? Did he know about the audio? Was he trying to trick them somehow?

“We've been together for years, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , but she doesn't care. She _said_ she doesn't care.” He sighed, a ragged sound, and rolled over to face her. “I don't understand what has happened to my life.”

“I don't either.”

“Would you please go now?” he said. She wanted to say no, to phase through the bars and hold him and comfort him.

“All right. I'll see you later.”

 

 _He couldn't know about the surveillance_ , she thought. All the installation had been done in the ceiling, out of sight. He had no way of knowing. Kitty spent most of the afternoon thinking. She sat in her temporary room with a movie on in the background, ignoring it. She'd seen it a hundred times. It was one of Kurt's favorites. She passed on dinner, having no appetite, instead returning to the lab to scour the files again. Hours later, she was still working, the movie long since over. She started formulating an idea, based off experiences the X-Men had on an almost regular basis. Even during Excalibur, Arcade had managed to swap their minds. Kurt had been possessed by a necromancer before. Maybe something like that had happened?

Kitty pulled up the logs again, for something to do while she thought. She was in the middle of them when an alert dinged. Someone was accessing files at that very moment.

Kurt Wagner.

Kitty ran to the security room and pulled up the surveillance for his cell. He wasn't in it, but Amanda was leaning against the wall outside. The second screen, from the camera Amanda knew about, showed an empty hall and the same time stamp. What the...? Kitty checked that both were recording, and watched.

On a third screen she pulled up surveillance for the other computer labs until she found him. It was definitely Kurt. She let him search the files, while she logged on, and when he sent the email with the file, she followed its trail. He reappeared in his cell when he was finished. On the audio, Amanda muttered words in a language Kitty didn't understand, and in the cell, Kurt went to his cot and laid down. Amanda strutted out of the hall. Kitty shut off the lights in the security room and followed Amanda's progress through the school using security feeds. In her room, Amanda pulled out a laptop before shutting the door and blocking Kitty's view. Kitty searched for the device on the school's system, but couldn't find it. Somehow Amanda was using another server and another connection. Kitty's fingers flew over the keyboard as she fought time to find it. Then she mirrored Amanda's screen and recorded everything. She watched the woman access the email Kurt had sent.

Kitty panted with shock and fear and her nerves buzzed. Kurt _was_ working with Amanda, but something wasn't right. She squeezed her eyes to fight the tears, then rewound the security feed from his hallway. She wanted to see and hear everything Amanda and Kurt had talked about.

On the screen, Amanda strolled in and tapped the bars of his cell. Kitty watched him wake up. He didn't get off the cot. “What do you want Amanda? I thought you didn't care about me,” he said.

“I don't. But that doesn't mean I don't still require your services.” Kitty couldn't read Kurt's face from the video, but he sat up and scratched his head. Amanda spoke again, words Kitty didn't understand, and she moved her hands over the bars. They shimmered for a moment, and she said, “Now go get me that file.” He teleported away. Kitty watched as Amanda leaned casually against the wall, ignorant of the second security feed she hadn't tampered with. Kurt returned, and Kitty watched again as Amanda muttered strange words and Kurt went back to bed.

Kitty ran through the walls to Hank's room. She didn't care that it was two in the morning. She dragged him out of bed and up to the control room. She could hardly get the words out as she queued up the feed again.

Hank rubbed his eyes, adjusted his glasses, and scratched his head. “What do you think this means?”

“It means he's either working with her or she's controlling him somehow.” She fought tears, clinging once more to a thin strand of hope that Kurt might not be responsible. “I want to know what Amanda said to him. It sounded mystical, but it might have been Romani. I'm sending the audio to Dr. Strange,” she said.

Within a few minutes she got a response.

“I guess no one sleeps around here,” Hank muttered.

Kitty loaded the file. Dr. Strange's voice played evenly through the speakers, explaining that the language was an ancient magical one. It translated into a combined spell for memory loss and behavior control. The second part ended the spell and wiped memories again. “It would appear your friend is not acting of his own free will,” Strange's message ended.

“Damn...” Kitty muttered. Then her face lit up as the reality sank in, “Hot shit! This is the best news ever!”

“It's certainly good for Nightcrawler,” Hank said.

 


	6. Eyes Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief happy times ensue.

Kitty, Hank, Scott, Jean, Ororo, and Logan met in the conference room. Amanda was still at the school, and they didn't have much time to act. Logan was taking a team to meet the soon-to-be-victim and prevent Amanda from killing him. Scott, Jean, and Ororo all agreed the new evidence cleared Kurt's name without a doubt.

“We can't tell 'im 'til Amanda makes her move. Otherwise she'll know,” Logan said. “Then we'll lose our chance to snag the bitch.”

“Agreed,” Hank said, and the others concurred.

Kitty was a positive live wire waiting to tell him. The moment Amanda said her good-byes and left, Hank handed Kitty the keys to the cell and the collar, and she phased straight through the floors to the hallway.

“Kurt,” she called before her feet touched the floor. Her hands were shaking so badly she could hardly get the key into the lock. She was afraid she'd snap the little electro-magnetic card.

He stood up, but didn't move towards the cell door. “ _Was ist es, K_ _ä_ _tzchen_? What's going on? What are you doing?”

She was crying, she realized, but it was with relief. “You're _free_. You didn't—it's not your fault.”

He stared, and even as the door stood open, he didn't move.

“Kurt? Don't you want to come out?”

“I'm not certain I should,” he said.

Kitty went into the cell and took his hand. “What do you mean?”

He looked down at her hand in his, and pulled it free. “Amanda said she saw me do it. I don't know what's wrong with me, Kitty, but if I'm doing things I don't remember, things that hurt people...then I don't trust myself to be free.”

Kitty swallowed a lump. “Listen to me. Everything is all right. I'll show you, okay?” She wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Let me get this off you,” she said, reaching for the collar.

He reluctantly let her, and she took his hand back, holding tightly when he would have pulled away again. “It was really hard to trust you. Everything looked so bad, and I wasn't sure I could believe you. So I get it. But you need to trust _me_ now. Just for a few minutes, and then you'll see. None of this is your fault.”

He held her gaze and after a moment he complied. “All right.”

She led him out, dropping the collar off in the security office outside the control room. He declined to sit, while she pulled up the surveillance feed from the previous night. Before she pressed play, she asked if he remembered anything from that night.

“I dreamed about Amanda.” He cast his eyes toward the floor. “I feel like I've been living in the dark. I don't think she loves me. I'm not sure she ever did.”

Kitty pressed play.

“You have audio...” he murmured as he watched, realization dawning as he slowly lowered himself into the chair. “ _Mein Gott_...”

When the playback stopped, he sat in stunned silence, staring at the paused screen. Then he turned to Kitty, and his eyes were as sad as she'd ever seen.

“Do you remember any of this?” Kitty asked.

He shook his head. “She was using me all this time.”

“I'm so sorry,” Kitty said.

“Thank you, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_. Even I was beginning to believe I had done it. Apparently... I did.”

“You were being controlled with magic. I should have thought of that in the first place,” Kitty said, trying to sound cheerful. “It's always shapeshifters or mind control or body swapping, right?” She forced a laugh.

“Don't blame yourself,” he said. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the screen again, frozen on the moment of Amanda's betrayal.

She reached out and touched his shoulder. He pulled her hand into his and kissed it. She didn't mind. He wasn't being disrespectful, he was thanking her. She stood up and put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. She heard the hitching sound of his breath as he struggled not to cry, his face pressed into her stomach and his arms wrapped around her waist. Kitty smoothed his hair and patted his back gently until he sat up.

“Come on,” she said, “Let's go see if Wolverine caught her.”

 

They went down together and waited for Logan's team to return, while the rest of them congratulated him on not being a criminal traitor after all. He laughed and joked with them, but Kitty knew that mask. Wolverine's group didn't return for several more hours, and they were empty-handed.

“Bitch got away,” Logan muttered as he stormed past them to the kitchen. Kitty followed him.

Logan grabbed a beer, popped the top with his hands, and chugged half in one go.

“Feel better?” Kitty said, arching one brow. She drummed lightly on the countertop.

“No.”

“Great. Could you please go talk to Kurt now?”

“What for?”

“Because you refused to talk to him when we all thought he was a traitor and I'm pretty sure he'll deny it but you hurt his feelings.”

Logan rolled his eyes and downed the second half of the beer. He grabbed two more and went to the other room. The third beer was for Nightcrawler—not German, but a decent one. She saw Kurt appraising it and laughing with Logan, and she felt better.

Now that he and Logan were speaking, she could head up to her room and sleep for a while. Maybe a few weeks. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept through the night, or what she'd eaten last, but that could wait. She knew she was tired, but not until she collapsed on the bed, clothes still on, did she realize how exhausted she really was. And that realization lasted only the moments it took for her to fall asleep, with no worries or fears plaguing her thoughts and keeping her awake.

Kurt was cleared. Amanda was out of his life, at least romantically. The Shi'Ar could probably, possibly, be appeased now that they knew who the killer was (Kitty didn't like Amanda but a killer? She should've seen that coming after the incident with Gravemoss).

She dreamed Amanda was trying to kill everyone.

 


	7. Another Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Gee, darn, Amanda, did your plan get ruined. Well rats. 
> 
> A short chapter.

The luxurious apartment in New York was compromised now. The X-Men would know to look for her here. Amanda furiously gathered up essentials and money and conjured a temporary mask to disguise herself when she left the city. She was angry with herself for not being more careful, angry at Kurt for screwing it all up, angry at Hank for finding the trail in the first place, but mostly she was angry at Kitty. The little tramp, the bane of Amanda's existence. The stupid girl was never gone for long, and for some reason Amanda couldn't fathom, Kurt was infatuated with her. Kitty knew too many of Amanda's secrets, and Amanda therefore _hated_ Kitty.

Kurt had been vital to her plan. She needed his access to the X-Men's files, and making him her lover had been a fun turnabout. In their circus days, she discovered he had a crush on her, and could use that to her advantage. Then, as her magic abilities improved, she could enthrall him for short periods of time and he'd do anything she asked.

Reuniting with him had been the greatest stroke of luck she'd had in years. And she'd just lost it. She kicked at the furniture in frustration. They'd never let her close to him again. She had to find a new way to gain more power. Her mother was counting on her, and Amanda wouldn't let her down.

Stefan had let her down. He couldn't control his dark side, in spite of their mother's attempts to help him. In the end, it had gotten him killed, and by none other than Kurt, damn him. She kicked again, smashed her foot, and shrieked.

Damn it _all_! Azazel had foisted his offspring on them, left them destitute, alone, and outcast, and now, when Amanda was _so close_ to being able to exact revenge on him, Kitty and the X-Men had ruined everything! She needed to think. She needed a new plan. She _would not_ fail her family.

 


	8. Afterwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hm, could there be something going on between some friends? This is billed as a Kurtty after all....

Kurt's head buzzed as he followed Logan up to a temporary room. A little too much beer and whiskey and a little too much celebrating but all for good reason. He said another prayer of thanks that Kitty had been determined to find out the truth. That she had believed in him enough to give him a chance. It would have been easy not to.

“Here,” Logan said, “You can use this room for now. Maybe one of these days you'll come back for good and we'll give ya a real suite.”

“ _Ja, ja_ , that would be nice,” Kurt said, wavering a bit. “ _Danke_ , Logan, _Guten_ _abend_.”

“Night, Elf.” Logan shut the door and Kurt dropped to the bed, pulling off his clothes and leaving them in a pile on the floor.

He hadn't slept in a bed in weeks. The cots in those holding cells were narrow, the mattresses thin and and not at all comfortable. He closed his eyes and his mind turned on, going over the events of the past weeks. He'd been through a lot as an X-Man but never imagined he'd be accused of betraying them. He wasn't sure what hurt worse, Amanda's manipulation and treachery, or the accusations against him from his friends.

Even Kitty had started to think he was guilty. He rolled over and folded his arms behind his head. There was a lot of data that pointed to him, mainly because it was, in fact, _him_. There was really no reason Kitty _should_ have believed him, other than the closeness of their friendship over the years.

She'd slipped out at some point in the night, probably to sleep. He _hoped_ she was asleep. The circles under her eyes told him she hadn't been doing much of that lately.

 

In the morning, Kurt ate breakfast with his friends, most of whom professed not to have really believed he would do such a thing. They were lying, he knew, to make him feel better, and themselves, too. It was fine. It was better than hearing them tell him outright that they thought he was guilty. Kitty came down as they were finishing up and putting breakfast away.

“You look like shit, Half-Pint,” Logan growled.

“Thanks.”

“When are you guys going back?” Logan asked.

“I don't know,” she said, looking at Kurt for an answer.

“We should probably go soon,” he said, “We've left the team short handed for too long.”

“It's up to you. You're the boss,” she said around a yawn.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “We'll consider today a vacation.”

“Fine with me,” Kitty said. “I have plenty to do.”

“Not if you're on vacation. You've been working too hard, _schatzi_. Your _boss_ says it's time for a break.”

She scowled at him but offered no more argument.

Kitty could admit to herself, if not to anyone else, that she was exhausted, but there was still work she had to finish. After breakfast she snuck off to the computer lab to change passwords and access codes. It _had_ to be done, even if she was tired and Kurt had all but ordered her to take the day off. Hank was busy with Ororo dealing with the Shi'Ar council and there was no reason she couldn't get this done quickly. At lunchtime she ordered pizza with Jubilee and Ororo and Bobby then crashed on the rec room couch. She was flipping through the channels when Kurt wandered through with Longshot.

“Wait, is that Robin Hood?” he said, grabbing at Kitty's hand holding the remote.

She phased out of his grip and kept surfing channels. “You've seen it five thousand times.”

“ _Ja_ , but—”

“Forget it,” she replied. “I have the remote, so I get to choose.”

He abandoned whatever quest he'd been on with Longshot, leaped over the back of the couch, and snatched the remote from her hand before she could react. She let her arm fall limply over the side of the couch where she lay. _She really must be tired_ , he thought.

“Oh, come on!” she fussed, her voice slightly muffled by the cushions. “You told me to take a vacation day.”

“And I know for a fact you spent the morning working.”

She lifted her head a bit and said sweetly, “All the more reason to give me the remote.”

He relented at last, and handed it over. “All right, _schatz_. You win.”

“How 'bout this,” she said, feeling generous. “I'll let you watch the rest of Robin Hood if you bring me some popcorn and give me a back rub during the movie.”

He didn't waste time agreeing, but disappeared in a puff of brimstone, sending Longshot to the other side of the room, holding his nose. When Kurt reappeared in a fresh burst of purple smoke, popcorn in hand, Longshot left the room completely. Kitty flipped the channel back to Robin Hood, dropped a pillow on his lap, and put her head down. She ate popcorn out of the bucket she set on the floor while he rubbed her back softly enough to send her to sleep.

When the movie ended, Kurt didn't move. It was too nice to be sitting with his friend and feeling free again. She was sleeping so cozily against him, her arm curled under her and one dangling off the couch. He flipped through the channels and watched whatever caught his interest, idling stroking her hair until she woke up.

She pushed upright and said, “I hope I didn't drool on you.”

He chuckled. “If you did, it is a small price to pay for your help.”

She started to wave it away, but he caught her hands in his and said, “I am serious. I would still be down there in a cell if not for you. I can't ever thank you enough.”

“Kurt, stop. I didn't do anything. I didn't even believe you.”

“Maybe not, but you were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. You were willing to do the work on the admittedly small chance I wasn't involved.”

“Yeah, but—”

He shook his head. “I know rescuing teammates is part of being an X-Man, but you did more than anyone would have expected.”

She sat quietly, leaned her head against his shoulder, suddenly overcome by the enormity of what might have happened if she had not been willing to intervene. Her voice came out scratchy. “You're my best friend.”

He ran his hand through her hair. “And you are mine.” Kitty put her arms around him and hugged him tight.

 


	9. Flight Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter.

Bishop flew them back to Scotland, along with supplies Moira had requested. He was preoccupied with the weather for a while, when a storm blew up over the middle of the Atlantic. Kurt offered his assistance, but Bishop declined for the time being. That left Kurt free to talk to Kitty.

“You and Hank determined that Amanda used magic, correct? To control me and others?” Kurt asked.

“Well, it was Dr. Strange, really. I couldn't understand what language she was using, so I sent him the audio for it. He explained what it was a spell for.”

“Did he say if there were...any _more_?”

“Any more spells? No, he only had the audio I showed you. Why? Do you think she did something else to you?” Kitty waited, tilting her head a fraction closer.

“Possibly,” he said. “I know now that she never loved me. But now I also think _I_ never loved _her_ ,” he said, getting right to the heart of his concern.

“You think that was a spell too? It would certainly explain a lot.”

“Would it?” he eyed her curiously as the plane lurched suddenly to one side. Bishop righted it, and after Kurt settled back down into his seat, having leaped up to help, Kitty answered him.

“She was the worst. I never understood what you saw in her. She ordered you around, she was mean to me and rude to _everyone_. I couldn't stand her. Nobody could.”

“I had no idea.”

“I know. It's all right.” She patted his hand reassuringly. “You never liked Pete much, but I can tell you, Pete was a _saint_ compared to her.”

“That bad?”

“ _Oh_ yeah.”

“I'm so sorry, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_.”

“Forget it. It's over now. I'm glad you never loved her. You need to find a _nice_ girl.” She blushed and hoped he didn't notice.

“ _Ja_. But not right now. I need to recover from whatever she did to me.”

The plane touched down outside, and the rest of the team came running, eager to see their lost leader and teammate.

 


	10. Desperate Measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda chats with Margali. Another short chapter. I almost combined it with the last one, but decided to stick with the format I'm already using. I'm cool with it.

Amanda sat at her mother's bedside, watching the woman breathe shallowly. She was in a time of weakness on the Winding Way, and her health was failing. She had killed everyone ahead of her on the Way, and yet she still fell into these periods of weakness.

“I was so _close_ , Mother,” Amanda said. “It was working. I was getting stronger. I _am_ stronger.”

“Yes,” Margali rasped.

“Azazel will pay, Mother. The X-Men will pay, too. I won't fail you. I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Azazel is a _demon_. To beat him, we need our own demon.”

“How?” Margali fixed her daughter with a stare.

“I'm still working it out. But I do have an idea. I'll have more power than Azazel or the X-Men and I will make sure we don't lose this time.” She reached for a cup of tea on the table next to Margali and offered it to her. The older woman shook her head weakly.

Amanda smirked. “As soon as you're better, I'll go, I'll get what we need, and I will _kill him_. I'll kill _all_ of them.”

Margali closed her eyes and smiled.

 


	11. Return to the X-Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excalibur is disbanded and the team heads home. Remember the dead guy from the first chapter? The Shi'Ar aren't really very happy with how things turned out...
> 
> If you haven't seen Serenity and/or Firefly, see notes at the end.

The new suites were much better than shared dormitories Kitty remembered from her early days at the school. Now as an adult, she had her own little apartment, with a separate bedroom and kitchen and bathroom. Coming back from Excalibur permanently had been a big decision, but she was glad to be home again. Kurt was happy, too, though she wasn't sure if it was from being home or not having to lead a team anymore.

He tapped the open door and poked his head in. “Coming _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_?”

“Yep,” she said and patted Lockheed's head one last time. An emergency meeting was being held in the conference room about a situation in space.

“Shi'Ar vessel's on a collision course with Earth,” Logan said without preamble when they walked in. “You two have experience with their tech so _we_ ,” he gestured to them and Ororo and Piotr, “Are goin' to space and blowin' it up.”

“I guess they weren't too happy that the killer escaped,” Kitty said quietly to Kurt as they hurried to the hangar.

“You did predict they would try to kill us all,” he replied.

 

They docked with the ship, scanning constantly for signs of life, but finding none. “Ororo, keep the jet close by. We'll radio back what we find,” Logan said.

The ship was dark, the corridors dimly lit only by a few emergency lights. It reminded Kitty of some of her favorite science fiction movies. She clicked her comlink and said to Kurt, “Reminds me of the movie _Serenity_.”

“ _Ja_. Perhaps there are reavers waiting for us?” He poked her on her opposite shoulder with his tail, and she jumped.

“That's not funny!” she said, swatting his arm.

“Don't worry, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , I'll protect you.” He pretended to grab her away from a threat, wrapping his arms around her and swinging her across the corridor.

“Not from reavers, they'll _eat_ you,” she said.

The group finally made it to the bridge, where all the computers were locked down. Kitty started working at one of the terminals. Kurt lingered nearby, waiting for Logan to make a decision about their next move.

“Let's search the ship,” Logan said. “Call when you have something, Half-Pint.”

 

The three guys wandered the corridors, Logan straining for a sense of anyone left on board. “Smells like explosives,” he said as they approached a locked door. He leaned closer. “A lot of 'em, and I think the door's rigged, too.”

“Hey guys? We have a problem,” Kitty said over their radios.

Back on the bridge once again, Kitty showed them what she'd found.

“I see symbols. What does it mean?” Piotr asked.

Kitty explained. “I tried to override the controls. This,” she said, pointing to the symbols Piotr noted on the screen, “is their failsafe. If I keep hacking, this is going to blow up the ship.”

“Can we shoot it down from the Blackbird?” Kurt asked.

“Space Blackbird,” Kitty whispered, and giggled.

Logan shot her a quizzical look before answering. “Yeah. We got weapons on the 'bird.”

“Space Blackbird,” Kitty said again, and Kurt stifled a low chuckle.

“Cut it out,” Logan said, scowling. He had no patience for joking.

Kitty swallowed another laugh. “Sorry.” When they found out the X-Men had a space-ready Blackbird jet, she and Kurt had made jokes about why they couldn't pay their taxes.

Logan tapped his comlink. “Ororo, see if you can lock on to the Shi'Ar vessel, but don't fire.”

Seconds later Kitty was screaming for them to stop. Her fingers flew over the controls, and when Storm deactivated the targeting lock, Kitty fell back in her chair in relief. “Don't do that again,” she said on an exhale of nerves. “We were _one_ _actual_ _second_ away from being dead. It target locked on the Blackbird too, so that strategy is a definite no.”

Piotr stood stoically, keeping watch while Logan paced.

“You're sure there's no way to blow this thing up from the 'bird?”

“That is what I'm telling you,” Kitty said. She slumped at the controls, still trying to crack the override without initiating the failsafe.

“What options do we have?” Kurt asked. He was beside Kitty again, watching her work the controls and quietly marveling at her ability to manipulate the Shi'Ar tech.

“Not many, Elf,” Logan said. His hands clenched and he looked like he wanted to punch something.

“The only way to destroy this ship before it kills Earth is to activate the failsafe and make it blow itself up.” All three men turned to Kitty.

“ _Was_?”

“What?”

“I ain't leavin' anyone here to die,” Logan said. “We've done that before, and we ain't doin' it on my watch.”

Kitty stared at the controls. “It's one of _us_ or all of us,” she said quietly. Then she lowered her head slightly and said, “Actually, it's just me.”

She felt Kurt bristle as he leaned over the back of her chair. “Why must it be you?” She could hear the controlled desperation in his voice, trying so hard not to let her know how afraid he was. “What do you have to do to activate the failsafe?”

She showed him. “I already activated the override, so anything else I do should work.”

Kurt straightened. “What if I stay here instead, initiate a sequence, and teleport back to the Blackbird before it blows up?”

“Not happening,” Logan said.

Kitty thought about it, logic warring with emotion. “Logan,” she said, her voice cracking. “I don't think there's any other way. He has the best chance.” Her heart was beating like a sick thing, each beat like a boot stuck in mud that she had to lift from the suction. She felt a little dizzy, too, and took deep breaths to steady herself.

She turned to Kurt and said thickly, “I'll show you what to do.”

“No, kid, we ain't doin' this,” Logan insisted.

“ _Tovarisch_ , they are right,” Piotr said, finally weighing in. “We must destroy the ship or everyone on Earth will die.” Piotr put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder. Logan jerked away and stalked down the corridor.

Kitty tapped Kurt's arm. She tried to keep from trembling while she pointed at the controls. “Look, you have to watch. See the symbols? They flash by in a sequence and you have to key them in.”

He watched carefully. They would only have one chance to get this right.

“I can show you over here, on this other screen. A lot of their systems are set up this way.” She pulled up a panel that didn't connect to the failsafe. “This is just to deactivate the sprinkler system. See how it's scrolling through?” She paused, watching the symbols flash by. “There, that's the start.”

Years ago, the professor had shoved all his knowledge of Shi'Ar technology into her brain, and it still sat there, waiting for moments like these to be useful again. Kurt didn't have that. And Kitty realized he didn't know the keyboard, and probably couldn't hit the keys in time, even if he could manage to hit only one key at a time.

She turned back to Logan, who had paced his way back onto the bridge. “Kurt can't do it,” she said. “It _has_ to be me.”

“You didn't even let me try!” he protested.

“No,” Logan said flatly.

“ _Yes_ , Logan. You know we have to do this. Go back to the Blackbird and get far away. If I phase, maybe you can come back and get me afterwards.” It was a lie. She'd be dead. She couldn't operate the keyboard while she was intangible.

“I'll stay with you,” Kurt said. “I'll teleport us both.”

“That's too much,” she said.

“No it isn't. I've done it before.” He glanced at Logan. “Take the Blackbird out of the blast zone, but stay as close as you can. Radio me the exact coordinates—as tight as you can get them.”

Logan stomped around muttering before finally giving in to the truth. It was their only viable option. Someone was probably going to die, but at least they could save billions of other people.

They calculated the likely size of the blast zone, and Wolverine radioed Storm about the plan. The moment they appeared on board, she'd have to hit the gas or they'd be pulverized by shrapnel.

Logan grunted approval. “I'll radio the coordinates once we're in place.” He looked at them. “Try not to die.”

When Piotr and Logan were gone, and they had the coordinates, Kurt took hold of Kitty's arm and waited. “ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , you have to tell me when to go.”

“I will.” She glanced up. “Are you ready?”

“ _Ja_. I'm ready. Wait...if this doesn't go well...” He stared down at her. “I...”

“It's gonna be fine. I trust you.” She turned back to the computer. “Okay, here we go.”

“But when—”

“NOW!”

 

On the Blackbird, Logan, Piotr, and Ororo watched the Shi'Ar vessel explode. The debris hurtled towards their jet, and they waited. Ororo was about to call it a loss when a puff of brimstone exploded on the deck, and Kurt and Kitty fell to the floor. Ororo jammed the throttle and the Blackbird leaped forward. Kitty and an unconscious Kurt slid down the aisle, banging into seats until she braced her feet on two of them, and Piotr grabbed Kurt's uniform to prevent him slamming his head into one of the steel supports. When the jet slowed, she crawled over to Kurt while Logan knelt to take his pulse.

Kurt coughed violently, sat up, and coughed again. He rested his arms on his knees as he inhaled long deep breaths.

“Lie down, you idiot. You nearly died,” Logan said. “Keep it steady for a pace, 'Ro,” he said.

Kitty pushed up on her elbows. “Hot shit, Kurt you did it!” She leaned over and kissed him hard, then patted his shoulder before getting to her feet. She dropped into the nearest seat, adrenaline still making her nerves fizz. “I thought we were dead for sure,” she said.

“ _Danke_ for the confidence,” Kurt muttered, but she just laughed.

He sat up slowly, coughed again, and scratched his neck. Logan offered his hand to help him up, smirking. Kurt took the empty seat next to Kitty and said, “You did well, too.”

“We're a pretty good team.” She tipped her head against his shoulder and tried to relax while Ororo and Logan flew them home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Firefly (show) and Serenity (movie): Reavers are people who were turned into vicious, violent cannibals by a drug known as "Pax". The Alliance wanted to make people stop fighting, but instead most of the people who were given the drug simply stopped living. In a small percentage, the drug had the opposite effect and they turned into the Reavers. They're absolutely terrifying and if you enjoy sci-fi and haven't seen the show or movie, I recommend it.


	12. Offer Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda's desperate and makes a really bad decision.

Amanda stood before Belasco, who appraised her blatantly. “What is it you want?”

“I have an offer to make,” she said, holding her hands out in supplication. “I want enough power to fight Azazel and win,” she said.

Belasco eyed her suspiciously. “Why do you think I'd help you with that? It seems to be more of a request than an offer.”

“Azazel is your rival. So are the X-Men. I want to kill _them_ , too.”

Belasco laughed, an unpleasant, guttural sound that made her cringe inside. She steeled herself and tried to remain confident while the demon lord considered.

“You want to kill the X-Men _and_ Azazel, and you want _me_ to give you the power to do it?” He took a menacing step forward. “Why do you think I can give you enough power to do that? If I could, do you not think I would have already?”

Amanda hadn't thought of that, but the answer sprang to mind. “You are trapped here in Limbo,” she said. “I'm not. I can take the fight to them, where you cannot go.”

Another laugh. “How do I know you won't come back and try to destroy me later?”

She had no rebuttal and Belasco continued. “I admit, I'm intrigued. I have a counter-offer for _you_ ,” he said. “I will give you what you request—enough power to do what you want. I'll even give you an army of demons to do the work for you if you wish. But you will be mine for a thousand years afterwards. And I want Kitty Pryde.”

“No—I—” Amanda stopped and reconsidered. Giving Kitty to Belasco _would_ be a good fate for the little bitch. “All right. I'll agree to that.”

Belasco grinned. “Then we have a deal?”

“Yes,” Amanda said and held out her hand.

 


	13. Emergency Procedures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda fights with the X-Men.
> 
> Kurt considers stealing a car. 
> 
> Please note: I do not condone theft in any way and I in no way suggest anyone steal anything from anyone ever. It's just a story.

The cool evening breeze brushed across her bare legs as Kitty swung them off the balcony railing. She was sitting outside, thinking about why she kissed Kurt on the Blackbird. Granted, she had imagined it millions of times over the years, but never acted on it. Thankfully, he seemed to be pretending nothing happened. She could always use the excuse of being caught up in the moment, not being dead and all.

“Don't fall,” he said from the front room. He was there to watch a movie with her, and she'd left the door open for him.

“I'll only fall if you scare me or push me.”

“Then I'll take care not to do either,” he said, as he slid the balcony door open a little wider to join her.

He hopped up on the railing next to her. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the breeze as the sun set behind the trees.

Kurt was first to speak again. “I don't know how you could read that Shi'Ar so easily.”

“It was the professor. Remember?”

“ _Ja_. The clothes maker.”

“Dork, that _would_ be the thing you remember.”

He continued looking out at the trees. “It wasn't my fault you kept showing off.”

“I wasn't showing off. I was tricking them.”

“I know, _schatz_.” He paused. “Alison ordered pizza. It should be here soon. We can watch the movie afterwards.” Kurt's tail flicked back and forth and she heard the sound of it tapping against the railing. He stood up and back-flipped onto the balcony, then held out his hand to help her down.

She stopped him when he would have gone inside. “Listen, I'd be dead if you hadn't stayed with me.”

He tucked a strand of her hair back and kissed her forehead. “I know. That's why I stayed. I couldn't let you die.”

“Thank you isn't really enough,” she said, wishing he'd kiss her again. He still had one hand in her hair and was intently studying her face. She felt her breath hitch.

“I know the feeling. I promise, it's enough.” He dropped his hand and bowed her through the sliding door.

 

Kitty was enjoying her second slice of pizza when Bobby rushed in and turned on the news. “Check it out,” he said, panting.

A horde of demons had descended on some town in upstate New York. They ravaged the town, tearing through the residents like piranhas in a feeding frenzy. The reporter started running and the feed cut off, going back to the studio, where they reported that the demons were moving southeast across the state, following what appeared to be a single demon leader.

“They're heading this way,” Ororo said, studying the map on the screen.

“Let's save them the trip,” Scott said.

“Everyone who's available. This will take all of us,” Jean added.

 

The two groups met outside another innocent town, facing off like soldiers in ancient wars. The demon leader floated above the army, watching as Jean and Scott stepped forward. “Go back to where you came from,” Scott said.

“No. We have no intention of doing that,” said the demons' leader. The voice was feminine and familiar, but the visage of the demon was hidden beneath a mask. She didn't waste time talking. At her signal, the horde leaped forward, Scott began blasting, Jean began smashing them into each other with her telekinesis, and the rest of the X-Men rushed forward as well.

There were far too many demons and far too few X-Men. Defeat was a given. The team was pushed back, panicking at their imminent loss, and scrambling to escape the demons before being killed. Scott's call to fall back sent everyone running, flying, and teleporting away. The demon leader laughed as the X-Men scattered in all directions and the army rejoiced.

 

The team split up. Returning to the school would only bring the demons there, where the team would probably be killed, and the demons would live to eat more people. Years ago, the professor had established a backup base for use in times like this. It hadn't been used recently, and quite possibly _ever_. But as the team raced off in different directions, Jean's voice came to all of them to meet at that rendezvous point. Once they regrouped, they would find a solution to the demon problem.

Kitty was fighting near Alison and Santo when the call came in to retreat. At that point, she cast around briefly for Kurt, but didn't see him. She phased into the ground and zig-zagged her way in the general direction of the town, finally emerging behind the library. She didn't see any of her teammates. She didn't see the demons, either, but that didn't mean they weren't hanging around. Scott and Jean would make sure the school was evacuated, and she couldn't go back there. She had the coordinates of the base thanks to Jean, but no money and no power that would take her there. And she was entirely alone.

 

Minutes earlier...

“Fall back!” Scott had shouted, and Kurt, busy with a demon, gave it one last kick before teleporting out of its reach. Kitty was clear on the other side of the field, and by the time he got there, she was gone. He had no idea where she was now, and most of his teammates had taken off as well, carried by those who could take them away, or teleported en masse by Pixie. Kurt felt guilt welling up as he realized he had missed his chance to help. He was worn out, but he teleported as far as he could go until he finally landed behind a car dealership in town. He huddled between the big metal trash bins to catch his breath, wondering where Kitty had phased herself to, and how he would get to Denver. If he took his time, he could get to the rendezvous in about...three months. He was going to need a car. Convenient that he was at a dealership. Too bad he didn't have money.

He kept to the shadows and decided he'd have to _borrow_ a car from somewhere. _Face it_ , he thought, _you are going to steal a car_. Kurt leaped to the top of a building and crept across the roof. From there he had a pretty good view of the little town. He didn't see any demons—they seemed to have moved on to wherever they were going—but he did see someone he knew.

Kitty shrieked when he _bamfed_ next to her behind the train station. She clutched her chest and smacked his arm. He laughed at first, then looked sheepish when she continued scowling at him. “I did not mean to scare you,” he said.

“It's okay, I'm just really on edge.”

“ _Ja_ , me too. Any ideas for getting out of here?”

“I was going to sneak onto one of the trains. Wanna join me?”

“Definitely. My plan was to steal a car.”

Kitty's laugh was more breath than sound. “Somehow I don't think you'd be okay with stealing a car. Can you even drive?”

“I fly jets, of _course_ I can drive,” he said, feigning offense. “Can _you_?”

She poked him in the ribs. The train pulled into the station, and Kitty walked the length of it while Kurt stayed in the shadows. It was a commuter train, and every car would have passengers. At this point they had few, if any, options. She rejoined Kurt, and when the train pulled away, he teleported them into the last car. There were several people in it, who scattered to the other end, still reeling from the demonic battle that had recently concluded in their hometown. She and Kurt took seats at the far end, and Kitty did her best to smile and wave and look friendly, while shoving Kurt behind her and down into the corner of the seat.

When she sat down beside him at last, he looked hurt. She whispered, “They don't know the difference between bad demons and good elves.”

“I know. Still...”

She squeezed his hand and slouched down in the seat, knees against the back of the one in front of her. They planned to ride into the city and go from there. Their biggest problem was that Kurt did not have his image inducer, and between his natural appearance and both of them in uniform, they stuck out.

Once in New York, they snuck away from the train, and headed for the nearest alley. Scrounging through dumpsters they finally found a ripped up old jacket, and he pulled the smelly thing over his head.

“ _Ach_ , this is _disgusting_! We have to find something else. This smells terrible, and it isn't doing anything to hide my face,” he complained.

“Yeah,” Kitty agreed, fanning the air in front of her face. “I don't want to be anywhere near you right now.”

“ _Danke mein Freund_. So _kind_ of you.”

“It's not my fault it smells so bad. It's worse than your bamf cloud.”

“I agree, _schatzi_. Let's see if we can find something else.”

They stuck to the back alleys, but they needed a plan. After several hours, they stopped to rest.

“This is a terrible plan,” Kitty said as her stomach rumbled. “We need better clothes, we need some kind of transportation, and we need food.” She looked up at him. “Any ideas?”

“Three months of teleporting?”

“Any _good_ ideas?” she corrected.

“I think we need to get out of the city, and start heading in the direction we need to go. It will be easier to walk once we're not surrounded by thousands of people.”

“All right. That's a first step. But...I don't think we can walk to Denver.”

“I'm not planning on it.”

“We need _transportation_ ,” she repeated.

“Short of stealing, I don't see how we're going to get a vehicle,” he said.

Kitty put her head down to think. “What if we sneak onto a train, like we did earlier?”

“That would get us there, but will not feed us.”

Kitty kept thinking. “What if...wait, what if we buy tickets _online_...with the school's credit account? Then we'd have tickets, and meals and everything.”

“Do you think the demons would trace it back?”

“I have no idea. Can demons use the internet? Anyway, I'll encrypt it. I just need a computer. We need to find a library.”

Kitty was still hungry, but knowing she'd get to eat eventually made it tolerable. She stepped into a shop and asked where the nearest library was. She gave Kurt the coordinates, and he was able to lead them there. She left him hiding in the alley behind the library while she went inside to use the computer. They were all in use, so she had to wait. At last her turn came up, and she checked the train schedule, selected the first available passage out west, and bought two tickets in a private compartment. Eating in the dining car might prove tricky, but they'd figure something out. She encrypted everything, paid the fare, and jotted down the confirmation number.

Out back, she looked for Kurt, panicking a little when she didn't see him anywhere. Kitty spun in a slow circle, calling his name quietly, then jumped when he landed next to her. “If you don't _stop doing that_...!”

“I was trying to see inside. You took so long, I was worried.”

“I had to wait in line for a computer. But I got tickets to Denver. Think you can get us to the station, or should we walk? I have no idea how far it is.”

“Walk. I'd like to avoid teleporting if I can, until I've eaten something.”

“I'm hungry, too. Hopefully we won't have to wait long to eat. Let's go,” Kitty took his hand and headed towards the station.

He let her hold his hand all the way there. She was glad she didn't have to travel alone, and gladder still that it was Kurt who'd found her. She glanced at him, still wearing the stinky jacket. She'd have to do something about that.

 


	14. Luxury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda relaxes for a while until she gets in trouble with her boss.

Amanda laughed as the X-Men scattered. She was already having a wonderful time. Toying with them was worth everything she'd given up for all this power. She let most of them go, choosing to allow her demon army to continue feeding on the weak humans until they were at full strength. She would continue attacking and capturing them, sending them to Limbo for safekeeping until she was ready to kill them. She giggled with anticipation. _And once the X-Men are dead_ , she thought, _then I will kill Azazel_. She passed her hand over herself and returned to her human form. Just because she was a demon didn't mean she had to look like one.

Her demon army rolled over the landscape of Northeast, feeding and causing chaos, while the news continued to ask where their heroes were.

“Idiots,” Amanda muttered, staring at a television left on in the home of a dead couple. “They spend so much time enacting laws to regulate mutants and control them. They create 'cures' for being mutant, and then when trouble comes along they run crying to them looking for help. Fools,” she said to no one.

Amanda decided this was a good place to stop and rest with her army. The house had comfortable furniture and plenty of food for herself—not that she required food any more, but it was still tasty—and she planned to enjoy herself before she completed her plan.

The house she'd come across was large, overlooking one of the many lakes in the northeast, and probably cost millions of dollars. Her demons were scattered across the lawn and the house, sated and resting. They awaited her every command, like well-trained puppies, only ugly.

Upstairs, Amanda soaked in the large tub, and relaxed in the plush bed. Belasco projected his image next to her in the bed.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Enjoying the spoils of victory,” she replied. “I've sent you some... _prizes_...to care for while I finish up.”

“Don't presume to tell me what to do, little demon sorceress. Do you forget who I am?”

“Of course not,” she said, noting the anger in Belasco's features. “Surely you don't mind helping though?”

She suddenly found herself back in Limbo, Belasco's hand around her throat. “Our deal doesn't include taking orders from you,” he growled. She swallowed painfully around the grip of his hand.

“I understand,” she rasped. _Maybe I'll kill you, too, when I finish with Azazel_ , she thought.

 


	15. Not Quite the Express Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kitty and Kurt take the train to Denver.

Kitty held their tickets in a tight fist, in front of Kurt. The smelly jacket had been discarded some time ago. Kitty had stolen a hooded sweatshirt for him from a big box store, promising herself to pay them back as soon as she could. Now, he kept his head down, hands in the pockets, and his tail tucked up the back of the sweatshirt. As soon as they shut the door of their room, they collapsed onto the seat. For long minutes, neither of them moved.

While they rested and regrouped, Kitty looked around. The room— _cabin, berth, compartment_ —was small but most importantly, it was private. No one would be ogling the strange-looking mutant and his brunette friend; no one would be snapping pictures and posting them on the internet. One wall held the bench seat on which they reclined, which also doubled as a bed. Above it, another bed folded down. The opposite side had a narrow closet, and a fold-down table. Under the window was a tiny sink and cabinet. When the conductor knocked on the door, Kurt stood at the window while Kitty gave him their tickets. She asked where the bathroom was, when dinner was served, and if there were snacks available before then.

When the conductor left, she sent Kurt to shower—the stench of the coat still lingered and she didn't want to put up with _that_ for the next two days—and she went out to the snack bar. She had purchased the best meal plan they had, so all their food was included, even the snacks. She took some fruit and chips back to the compartment to wait for Kurt. When he came in, she sniffed dramatically.

“That is _so_ much better,” she said, handing Kurt an apple. “I got us some snacks.” She eyed his unusual getup—he had the sweatshirt on, and his uniform with the top unzipped was dragging behind him. “I should have stolen you some pants, too.”

“ _Nein_ , this is fine. I'll zip it up once I'm dry. I was afraid to stay too long, in case someone came in.”

He had a point. Walking into a shared bathroom to find a fuzzy, blue, naked guy using the shower would probably be unsettling for most people. Kitty found the mental image rather appealing, however and had to force it from her mind. He sat down on the bench next to her and munched the apple.

“I'm glad I found you,” Kurt said out of the blue.

“What, you mean _today_? Or four years ago?”

“Both.” He hugged her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Definitely both.”

“Me too. You think they have any cards around here?” She leaned over and opened the single drawer beside the closet, then peeked in there, too. Nothing. “Guess we have to entertain ourselves.”

Kurt stood and pulled the sweatshirt off, and Kitty shot him a mischievous look. “Not what I meant by entertainment...”

He whipped his head around to meet her eyes. A look of confusion followed by shock passed over his face, replaced almost immediately with a smirk. “I'm not stripping,” he said. “At least not right now.”

“Looks like stripping to me,” she returned, not batting an eye, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , if you mistake dressing for stripping, then you've been spending time with the wrong men.”

“I already know _that_ ,” she said, no longer unable to keep from laughing. “There wasn't nearly enough stripping.” She leaned back on the seat and let out a long breath.

He gave her a puzzled look. “What is going on with you?”

“I don't know. Stress?”

“There is plenty of that going around,” he agreed.

“Now what are we going to do about dinner?” she said, sobering.

“I can't really go out looking like this, if we're to keep a low profile.”

“I'll have to bring something back for you. I'll just tell them you're sick or something.”

Kurt nodded, pleased with the plan. He stretched out on the seat and propped his legs across Kitty's lap.

“Now I'm your waitress _and_ your footstool?” she said, pinching just above his knee and making him jolt in surprise.

“Don't do that!” he said, but his tone was light as he relaxed again. “You're _neither_. You're my friend.”

“Sappy,” she quipped, but she patted his shins affectionately, then phased through him and got up. “I'm going to make sure they knock for dinner. I don't want to fall asleep and miss it.”

When she returned, Kurt was dozing, and rather than go to the trouble of pulling the upper berth down, she put her head on his stomach and closed her eyes. He rubbed her arm affectionately.

 

Dinner was challenging. Kitty was seated with two other people, who kept asking her questions and trying to get her to talk. They wanted to know where she was going and why, and where she'd come from, and what was wrong with her companion. She was immediately suspicious, and tried to make her lies believable enough that they wouldn't register to someone who might be trained to look for that. She told them she was in grad school in New York, and was going to Denver to see family. Her companion was her childhood friend but he wasn't feeling well. The server boxed up a meal for him and she took it back, relieved to be done with the pretenses.

Kurt was awake, but still lying on the bench. He sat up when she brought the food, lunging for it. He had to be absolutely famished.

“Sorry,” she said, “I ate as fast as I could. The ladies I was sitting with wouldn't stop talking,” she said, watching him eat. “I wish you could come with me for meals. I hate lying to people. And I hate thinking everyone could be after us.”

“I understand. But we can't afford to draw attention until we know how to defeat these demons.”

“Do you think we can?”

“Of course.”

“Really?” It wasn't like her to be so uncertain, but recent events had left her floundering. If Kurt could be manipulated and demons could defeat the entire team, then anything could happen.

“ _Ja_ , really,” he said with a quick smile between bites of dinner. “Scott and Jean and Ororo and Logan are excellent tacticians. They will devise a plan, we will carry it out, and the demons will be vanquished.” He made a sweeping gesture, slicing the air with an invisible sword.

Kitty ignored his playfulness. “Her voice was really familiar,” she said. He tensed visibly, and Kitty felt the food in her stomach turn to lead as she predicted what he was about to say.

He stopped shoveling food into his mouth long enough to glance at her. He set the fork down and then picked it up again. Kitty clutched her hands to keep them from trembling. Kurt finally responded. “It was familiar to me, too.”

“You know who it is.”

“I think so.”

Kitty waited. She wondered why he hadn't mentioned it before, and why _she_ hadn't realized it earlier. Maybe she was wrong.

“I think it might have been Amanda.”

Dammit. She hated being right.

“Shit,” Kitty said.

“ _Ja_.”

“I guess she's pissed at us.”

“ _Ja_.”

“She can find us, can't she?”

“Probably.”

“Shit.” Kitty chewed her lip. “I haven't heard Jean in my head since we all separated. That can't be good, can it?”

“No, probably not,” he said, “But all we can do is stick to the plan and hope for the best. I suppose if Amanda really wants to find us, she will.” He resumed eating, and when he finished, Kitty set the tray outside the door. Kurt stood and stared out the window. It was dark now, and with the light on in the compartment, it was impossible to see out.

“You probably shouldn't stand there,” Kitty said, clicking out the light and joining him. Now she could see the dark scenery blurring past, too. She leaned against him and he propped his arm on her shoulder. “Maybe we should come up with some preliminary strategies on the way. It's going to be a long, boring trip after all,” she said.

“Mm, _ja_. Good idea.” His voice was warm and low and sent prickles up her spine. She shivered and he pulled her around in front of him, wrapping his arms around her waist as if she were cold. She felt the weight of his chin on her head, and reached up to pat his head fondly.

Darkness has a way of changing the atmosphere, and Kitty felt a burst of affection. She turned in his arms and hugged him tight, grateful he was here with her. She felt him reach out and heard the blind being pulled down, and he rested his hands on her back. He kissed her head softly and said, “Are you tired? You want to go to sleep?” His voice ruffled her hair when he didn't lift his head after kissing her.

“No, not really. I just needed this.”

“Me too.”

The darkness and quiet in the tiny train compartment created an air of intimacy. The rumbling motion was soothing, and Kurt was warm under her cheek. She wasn't sure what it was, a subtle change in the atmosphere of the room, a slight increase in his heartbeat perhaps, but she picked her head up slowly and tipped her head back. He watched her curiously, waiting to see what she was going to do. She took a few quick breaths and swallowed.

She was suddenly, inexplicably _terrified_ that he might kiss her (wait, didn't she _want_ him to kiss her?). They were under a great deal of stress, alone in a train car in the dark, pressed against each other, and she was so afraid they would only be reacting to the situation. She couldn't stand it if he kissed her and left her later. Better to not let it happen at all.

She pulled her arms away and stepped back haltingly. He dropped his hands and moved aside to let her pass. She didn't turn the lights on as she sat heavily on the bench. She didn't want to make it any easier for him to see the stricken look on her face.

“What the hell?” she muttered to herself.

He responded just as quietly, and she almost didn't hear him. “ _Tatsächlich. Was war das_?1”

“Nothing,” she said, louder. She got up again and looked for the catch for the upper bunk in the dark. After a few seconds of frustrated fumbling, Kurt stepped over and did it for her. She climbed onto the bunk and willed herself to fall asleep. Instead, she found herself at eye-level with Kurt, who hadn't moved from the side of the bunks.

“ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , please don't be afraid of me.”

 _Dammit_ , she thought. _Of course that's what he'd think_. “I'm not, Kurt. I'm _not_. Of _course_ I'm not. I'm just, uh, _really_ tired. I haven't slept much. I need to sleep.” She was rambling and sounded ridiculous and she knew it, but she didn't care.

She stared at him for a moment, trying to read his features in the dark. It was truly impossible, with his shadow-blending and dark skin and fuzz. But his eyes glowed, and she imagined they looked sad. She felt awful. She _wasn't_ afraid of him. He touched her cheek lightly and said good night. He started to take his hand away, and she grabbed it.

“I'm not afraid of you, Kurt.”

“I would never hurt you.”

“I know you wouldn't. You've always been kind to me. I didn't mean to make you think that. I'm a mess right now, really, that's all.”

He seemed to believe her, and he kissed the back of her hand before tucking it under the blanket. She listened to him sit and then lie down on the bench below, rolling from one side to the other until he settled. Kitty was finally lulled to sleep by the motion of the train and the soft, even sound of his breathing.

 

 

1Indeed. What was that?

 


	16. Revelation of the Secular Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally maybe some smooching. Sorry folks, I don't do smut. At least not yet. Maybe someday. But not today. Cheesy romance, heck yeah.
> 
> Also, I'm not a medical professional. I have no idea if any of this makes sense. It's a story so just go with the whole suspension of disbelief and pretend it's right. :-)

When she woke up, Kitty stayed in the cot for a while, listening to Kurt humming softly. She didn't recognize the tune. She finally sat up and stretched. In the bright light of morning, the scene from last night shot across her mind's eye and she wondered what had come over her.

She peered down over the edge, and he grinned at her. “ _Guten morgen_ , _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. Pretty well. You?”

“ _Ja_ , mostly. I consider it a win that we are still here.”

“Not being attacked in the night _is_ kind of nice.”

She swung her legs over the side and dropped down. Now that she could see, she had no trouble folding the upper cot back against the wall. Kurt sat up to make room for her on the bench. He seemed to be ignoring whatever had happened last night, and Kitty decided she'd do the same.

“I have to tell you something,” she said, shocking herself with her own words. That was the _opposite_ of ignoring things. Her heart beat madly against her ribs as if trying to escape, and she felt her face go pale.

He noticed her distress, and leaned close. “ _Was ist es, Schatz_?”

Her hands started to tremble, and he looked scared now. She had to hurry up or he was really going to start freaking out. “Last night, okay, that was...that was _something_.”

He sat back and arched one brow at her. “You noticed.”

“Uh, _yeah_. Was it...I mean...what _was_ that?”

He scratched his head and yawned. “I don't know. Stress? What do you think?”

The conductor tapped on the door. “Breakfast.”

Kitty sighed and grabbed the all-purpose sweatshirt to wrap around her waist. Hopefully she didn't look like she was wearing the same clothes as the day before.

“I'll be back.”

Instead of eating with the others, she requested both meals be boxed up, explaining that she, too, was feeling unwell now. It was true. Everything was spinning, her stomach was in knots, and her heart was still pounding. She felt hot and cold and dizzy. All that from one conversation that hadn't even amounted to anything important?

Back in the compartment, she handed him his food, and sat down beside him. Her hand shook slightly, and he covered it with his.

“ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen?_ ”

She took a deep breath. “I don't feel good,” she said. “Dizzy and hot.”

He put a hand to her head, then laid her down on the bench, crouching beside her. “You're warm. It could be an illness, or the result of an injury.” He lifted her bandaged arm. “Did you treat this or someone else?”

“I did, with the library's First Aid kit,” she said.

“May I look?”

“Of course.” She stuck her arm out and he laid it on his lap as he unwound the bandage. Kurt was a field medic, and before Hank took over, he'd often helped out in the clinic. As he peeled back the layers of gauze, Kitty could see discoloration showing through. “You cleaned this?” His tone was concerned more than accusatory.

“Yeah, and put the antiseptic on it and everything.”

“Hm.” When he unwrapped the last layer, the wound was so ugly, she closed her eyes.

“That looks disgusting,” she mumbled.

“It isn't pretty.” He helped her sit up. “Come down to the sink.”

The sink was tiny, but Kitty was able to sit at the end of the bench and dunk her arm in enough for Kurt to wash it thoroughly. She kept her eyes averted and wondered how he could stand to look. And then she was infinitely grateful that he _was_ willing to look.

“Thank you,” she said.

“It's nothing, _liebes_.”

There was a First Aid kit under the sink. He took out the alcohol wipes and began cleaning the wound again, dabbing along the edge of the cut carefully. It stung every time he touched it, and she winced, even though he was being gentle. Near the middle, he stopped, turned her arm back and forth, and dug in the box again.

“It looks like something is lodged in the wound,” he explained. “Hm. No tweezers.”

Kurt tapped his chin, then turned to the breakfast tray. He grabbed the knife, washed it in the sink and then used another alcohol swab on it. “Sorry, _schatz_ , but this is going to hurt.”

“Okay.” She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw as he dug out the offending particles—plural. Tears sprang to her eyes and she clenched her teeth.

“Done,” he announced at last, and finished cleaning it. A hearty application of first aid ointment and a clean bandage, and she could finally breathe again. “I'm sorry that was so painful.”

“Not your fault,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “I've been through worse.” She watched him put the kit away.

“Now let's eat some breakfast,” he said, and helped her scoot back down the bench.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she said.

“You do the same.”

After they ate, Kurt slid the dishes outside the door, and felt her head again. “You'll be all right now that the rocks are out.”

“Damn demon rock particles,” she muttered.

He gave a slight chuckle deep in his chest as she put her head down on the bench. Her stomach protested a little from the infection and the procedure and the greasy food. Kurt untied the sweatshirt from her waist and she phased so he could pull it free.

“I'll be back shortly,” he said.

“Where are you going?” she asked, anxious at the prospect of him being seen. The thought of Amanda leading an army of demons was back in the forefront of her mind.

“To the game car. I read some of the brochures last night after you went to bed. There are cards and magazines and I thought I'd bring some back.”

“Oh. Okay. Be careful.”

He gave her a wry glance. “If I must.”

When he left, Kitty rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. He was gone for almost an hour, and she was becoming genuinely worried when the door clicked open and he entered quietly.

“I thought you might be asleep,” he said when he saw the anxious look on her face.

“What took you so long?”

He chuckled and looked away from her, pulling the sweatshirt over his head. Kitty watched the muscles ripple in his back through his uniform, and cursed herself silently.

“I had a conversation with the attendant.”

“Oh no...”

“ _Nein_ , it's all right. He's a mutant too.”

“Oh.” Was that all she could say?

“We talked a while, because apparently, the items are supposed to remain in the game car. However, I am a _most_ charming fellow, and he allowed me to take a deck and a few magazines.” Kurt grinned.

Kitty could see his fangs. If she didn't know him like she did, he would be a frightening face to run into unexpectedly. She sat up and leaned forward against his shoulder as he crouched in front of her.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked.

“A little.”

He handed her a couple magazines. Outdoor Sports and Home Decorating. “They didn't have anything good?”

He handed her the other two. Country Life and Vacations Abroad. “Well those are better anyway.”

“Sorry. There was not a huge selection.”

Kitty couldn't help but smile. “I suppose it was too much to hope that they'd have Electronics Monthly or something.”

He sat down beside her. “Would you rather play cards?”

She shook her head. She didn't really know what she wanted. Or, she _did_ , but she wasn't sure it was wise to discuss it. His hand moved over her back, and she scooted over on the seat to be closer to him. It was comforting to be in contact with another person.

“There is something on your mind.”

She nodded.

“You don't want to talk about it?”

“I don't know yet.”

“Ah. Well, here I am if you decide.”

He picked up the vacation magazine from where she'd set it down, and flipped through it, holding it so she could see too. For some reason, this simple, thoughtful gesture made her want to cry. She took a deep breath and said, “I love you.”

She felt his body go tense under her cheek, but he said as easily as ever, “I love you, too, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_.” He kissed the top of her head and kept reading the magazine, as if they said this to each other every day.

Kitty wasn't sure if she was relieved or irritated. He didn't get it. It was so hard to say and she had nothing to show for it. She stayed curled against him for a while, and then decided. She sat up and put her hand on the magazine. He didn't look up immediately.

When he finally met her eyes, he'd lost the cocky expression he usually wore. “I meant I'm _in love_ with you.”

Kurt stared, as frozen as Bobby's ice sculptures, as he tried to understand what she just said. In. Love. _In_. Love...with _him_?

“ _Was_?”

She looked down at her hands, and Kurt could see that she was nervous but he couldn't remember any other words.

“Never mind,” she finally mumbled, and she started to move away. This seemed to shock his stunned brain into function again.

He touched her shoulder and she stopped moving, but didn't look at him. “ _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_ , _Ich habe dich_ _immer geliebt_.”

“Um...”

“ _Ich habe nie erwartet, dass du mir das sagst. Ich habe nie gedacht, dass du mich liebst_.”

Kitty's wry expression made him pause.

“My German isn't good enough to understand you when you talk that fast.”

He hadn't realized. “Sorry.”

“It's okay. I got the gist of it.”

He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek and she leaned into them. “I said I never expected you to say that to me. I never thought you would...”

“Love you?”

“Love _me_.”

“Well. _Surprise!_ ”

“ _Ja_.”

His hand rested against her cheek. “I've _always_ loved you.”

Kitty leaned forward a little, and he met her, soft lips barely touching hers. She leaned closer, put her arm around his neck, and parted her lips. Kitty heard magazines falling to the floor as he pulled her towards him, finally, _finally_. She twisted to face him, climbing half onto his lap with her hands curling into his hair. When she broke away to breathe, she whispered, “I love you,” against the shell of his ear.

“I love you, too,” he said.

 


	17. Discoveries in Denver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of what the title implies. Kitty and Kurt discover some interesting things when they arrive at the secret emergency spare backup base.

When they arrived in Denver, Kurt donned the sweatshirt again and they exited the station as quickly as possible. Until they knew what Amanda and her demons were doing, they wanted to take no chances that she might see them.

Kurt fretted over the possibility that she might still be able to find them all, but there was no option at that point but to make the rendezvous and hope for the best. They stuck to alleys, shadows, and back roads as much as possible, until they were out of the city. The winding road leading to their destination was little traveled, and they saw only two cars.

At last, they left the road and ventured into the woods beside it, trekking another mile before they reached the secret entrance. It looked undisturbed.

“Either they aren't here, or they're really good at making it _look_ like they aren't here,” Kitty said.

Kurt pulled the door away and they went down into the tunnel. It was absolute black. No automatic lights came on, but Kurt located a switch that turned on some dim emergency lights, just enough for Kitty to see where she was going.

“They aren't here, Kurt,” she said. “No one is here.”

“I see that. It took us days to get here. Most of them should have been here.” He pulled out his comlink and said, “Let's try contacting them.”

They both reached out to various X-Men but there was no response from anyone.

“Maybe we don't have a signal out here and that's why they aren't answering.” It was doubtful, but it left a sliver of hope. “Let's go down to the main rooms and see if there's any functional equipment we can use.”

They continued the gradual descent to the underground base, untouched in years. There was outdated equipment, but Kitty could work with it. There were also stashes of weapons, uniforms, and some food that, although canned, was nonetheless unfit to eat.

“They should probably keep this place better stocked if we're seriously going to use it as backup,” Kitty said as she glanced at the piles of perished non-perishables.

“But at least there are clean uniforms,” Kurt said, holding one up. It was full of holes and coming apart at the seams.

Kitty shook her head and started booting up the equipment. Kurt wandered the room, opening doors and peering in other unused, dark spaces. He returned with news that there were several mildewy mattresses and more ancient canned goods in some of the rooms.

“Lovely,” Kitty said. “Here's some actual good news, though. I got the computer to work.”

“ _Wunderbar_. Is it a Cerebro?”

“Not exactly, but it'll lock onto their comlinks and broadcast to all of them at once. It can also use the GPS in the comlinks to find them. Assuming they're working, of course.”

Kurt pulled over a folding metal chair and perched on it while Kitty worked. An hour later, Kitty threw her hands up in frustration. “I can't find anything. Either the comlinks aren't working or they're all turned off, or this thing from the Dark Ages doesn't work.”

“It worked when you searched for our comlinks, _K_ _ä_ _tzchen_.”

“I know. I'm just irritated.” She eyed their surroundings. “We can't stay here, it's disgusting. Let's see if there's any cash lying around and go somewhere else.”

“Already done.” He held out several wallets.

“Wow! I was kind of kidding,” she said. “How much is in there?”

“Several hundred dollars in each wallet. They weren't messing around in the cash department. And these are just three that I've found. There might be others.”

“Let's each take one and leave the third one here, in case we have to come back.”

 

Once back in the city, they checked into an inexpensive hotel that had free cable television access and a complimentary breakfast buffet. They scanned the news outlets looking for any reports about demonic activity.

“I can't believe we're looking for demons on the evening news,” Kurt quipped, making himself comfortable on one of the double beds.

Kitty flipped channels and didn't say much. She finally settled on one broadcast, and sat riveted at the end of his bed. Kurt poked her with one long toe. “Come sit with me. Relax for a few minutes.”

She shook her head. “Can't. Too much to do. I'm going to run over to that drug store and buy a pack of underpants, and bring us something to eat. Need anything?”

He crawled to the foot of the bed and put his arms around her. “Come back,” he said. “Also, underpants would be nice, too.”

Kitty almost laughed at their interesting situation. On the run from demons, missing their entire team, and the first thing they want is clean underwear. “No one ever talks about underwear or bathrooms in the movies,” She said as she stood up and kissed his cheek. “Back in an hour.”

“I'll be here.” He fought the urge to watch her and instead, tried to focus on the news broadcast. There wasn't anything about demons. Kitty returned almost exactly an hour later. He heard the chink of the card key in the slot and didn't bother to hide the smile when she came in. She tossed a package at him.

“Couldn't find any with tail holes,” she said.

He grinned. “At least they're clean.”

“And I can finally take a shower and not feel completely disgusting when I get dressed after.”

She also had some takeout food from the Mexican place next door, and they ate it at the little table by the window, with the curtains closed.

“Nothing came up on the news. It's been too long since the attack. It isn't a headline any more.”

Kitty chewed slowly. “I don't know what to do.” Her eyes watered suddenly and she said, “It's like when we thought they were all dead before, only worse, because we don't know anything at all, and there are still demons and a really angry ex-girlfriend who maybe wants to kill us.”

Kurt took her hand. “This is different though. We don't know if they're dead. We haven't exhausted all our resources yet. And we can always return to the school and use Cerebro there, or if it comes to it, we can wait for the demons.”

She smiled through her tears, wiping them away angrily with the heel of her hand. “Where the hell _are_ they?”

She meant their friends, of course, not the demons. “I don't know. But I'm not ready to give up.”

She squeezed his hand. “I think I'll take a shower.”

While she was washing up, he jotted notes on the hotel stationery as ideas came to him. Not that he had many, but it made him feel productive.

Kitty came out in the hotel robe, rubbing at her still-wet hair. Her eyes were pink from crying. He showed her the notes he'd written and left her with a kiss to take his own shower.

When he returned, she was sitting on the bed in the robe, looking at his scribblings.

“Didn't think my notes were that interesting,” he said, sitting down behind her and gathering her into his arms.

“They aren't. I was thinking.”

He rubbed at her shoulders and her back while she talked.

“If that's Amanda, how'd she become a demon? Where did her army come from? She wasn't working alone before, and I don't think she is now.”

Kitty turned to face him. “I can't believe they're all dead. Wouldn't there be bodies? Wouldn't it have been on the news? That guy on the train that you talked to, he'd have heard something, right? They can't be dead.” She searched his face. “Can they?”

He would have done anything to take away the hurt look in her eyes, but he didn't have any answers for her. She didn't expect him to, not really. “I would be surprised, _schatz_. Which leaves us with your other unanswered question: where are they?”

She chewed her lip and leaned her forehead on his chest. He folded his arms around her. She said, “If you wanted to be a demon, how would you go about it?”

The question, posed to him of all people, was ridiculous, but it warmed his heart. She knew as well as he did that he was part demon. He considered the question. “Cast a spell perhaps? Seek out other demons for help?”

“Yeah. That's what I came up with, too. Didn't she rule Limbo for a while?”

She felt the change in him. “ _Ja_ , she did. Then Belasco came back and drove her out.” He pushed her away to see her face. “Do you think...”

“She's working with demons? Took over Limbo again? I think it's possible.”

“ _Verdammter Scheiß_. If that's true, then we are in serious trouble.”

“Yeah. You always did know how to pick 'em, Fuzzy.”

“Hey, they weren't all so bad. Cerise was—never mind.”

“She was a war criminal but otherwise I liked her.”

“I picked you, too,” he said.

“I think I picked _you_ , actually.”

He contemplated arguing with her for fun, but decided against it. “Yes you did, _liebe_. Thank you.”

She put her arms around him and moved closer. Kurt stretched out on the bed and kept his arms around her while she got comfortable. Kitty propped her chin on her hands and eyed him. “Since we're probably going to be killed in the next few days, I suppose we should make the most of our final hours on Earth.”

“ _Ja_. I'll order pizza and you find an Errol Flynn movie.”

She poked his ribs.

“Cary Grant?”

She gave him a funny look, then sat up and clicked on the television. “Okay. I can handle Cary Grant. Let's check the oldies channel.”

Kitty squealed when he wrestled the remote away and braced himself above her. “What?” she said in mock innocence. “You _said_...”

“Lies, _liebling_ , all lies. Kiss me.”

 


	18. Study Abroad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amanda checks in with her mother.

Her work was done, for now, in New York, and Amanda's demons were well-fed. She'd separated the X-Men and had some fun with almost all of them so far—only the two she hated most were still loose, and that was intentional. She wanted them to squirm before they watched her kill their friends.

She and her demons flew over the countryside towards her mother's cottage. Margali had regained her strength, but Amanda's deal with Belasco meant there was little her mother needed to do until they took on Azazel. For now, she simply enjoyed hearing what Amanda had done. She made tea and biscuits to share with her daughter today.

Amanda made sure her mask was in place, to avoid her mother becoming distraught over the changes Belasco had wrought in her. Amanda left her demons in the clearing and stepped into the cottage. It was decorated as their circus wagon had once been, and although Amanda had never lived in the cottage, the place still made her feel at home.

She sat down across from her mother and smiled with delight.

“Well, daughter, tell me what you have accomplished that makes you smile so,” said Margali, pouring the tea.

Amanda's grin widened a little more. “I've captured the X-Men. They aren't dead yet, but their team is shattered. Only two remain free for now. The rest are trapped in Limbo.”

Her mother sipped the steaming tea. “Your deal with Belasco is working out then?”

“Yes, _quite_ well so far. He was more than happy to reach a compromise.”

Margali nodded. “And you're happy with the terms?”

“I am, or I would not be here, victorious, right now.”

Margali stirred her tea. “What do you plan to do with Kurt?” Though she blamed Azazel most of all, for saddling her with with the burden of three children to care for alone, she hated Kurt for killing Stefan, and hated him for being part of Azazel as well, a tiny part of her still cared for him. After all, she had raised him from an infant. He was, in many ways, her son.

Amanda's grin faded to a scowl. “I will make him pay for the hell he put us through. After he watches his friends die, and that child he clings to is given to Belasco, he'll become my slave.”

Margali smiled slightly. “And when you must fulfill your terms with Belasco, what will you do with him then?”

“Kill him.”

 

Amanda's demons feasted on the lives of German townspeople in the evening, as they began their tour of the villages and cities the circus had visited in Amanda's youth. She intended to pay back each and every inhospitable town for what they had done. She watched with glee as people ran uselessly from her demons. Belasco's image appeared beside her, looking haughty and disdainful.

“What is it, dear Belasco?” Amanda crooned, proud that he was witnessing the fruits of her new abilities.

“I'm doing you the kindness of informing you that I had a little fun with your toys today.”

Amanda whirled on him, unable to keep her face neutral. It was not wise to anger the demon lord of Limbo, especially when she owed him her power and her life for a thousand years but he had interfered.

“What did you do?” she asked, hoping he hadn't killed all the X-Men before she could have her fun.

Belasco grinned and chuckled. “I helped them locate their friends.”

Now she realized who he meant. “What did you do?” She could barely contain her rage. Kitty and Kurt were _hers_ , and she had plans for them.

“I merely took them on a brief trip. It was quite satisfying. Yes, I'll enjoy having my little Cat back with me.”

“This is supposed to be _my_ victory, Belasco. Stay out of it until I'm finished!” She couldn't help yelling. He wasn't supposed to have any part in it. He was taking away _her_ fun!

“Ah-ah, little demon sorceress. You're mine, remember?” His image leaned closer. “Perhaps I should remind you what you owe me,” he said, and she found herself in his throne room.

Amanda was infuriated. “Belasco, we have a deal. I'm yours, but you must let me finish! My work is only beginning! I have the X-Men, but those two must suffer _more_...Let me go back.”

“Not until you have assured me of your loyalty again,” said the red demon.

Amanda relented and recited her oath again.

 

“Can I go now?” she said when Belasco was satisfied that she was loyal.

Belasco laughed throatily. “Certainly. But I will see you again soon.”

“As you desire, my lord,” she said, and she returned to her demon army.

Her setback with Belasco made her more determined to finish. It was time to collect the last two X-Men before Belasco did anything else. She gathered her demons and began building the teleport disc that would bring them to her.

 


	19. Found but Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit to Limbo

Earlier

The hotel's free breakfast bar was only open until nine, so Kitty hurried into her uniform. She and Kurt had slept late, fatigue and time changes messing with their internal clocks. Kurt opened the door, his hand resting lightly at Kitty's waist. Instead of the hallway, it was Limbo, and Belasco stood leering at them.

Kitty jumped back, knocking into Kurt, but it was too late, they were no longer in the hotel room, but Limbo. Kurt's arm encircled her waist, keeping her so close she stumbled over his feet for balance. Belasco laughed.

“Welcome back, _Cat_ ,” he said, his eyes roving over her body from head to foot. “I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted.” He turned his attention to Nightcrawler. “And _you_ , my demonic friend, I'm eager to see what our mutual acquaintance has in store for you. Nothing _good_ , I'm sure.”

“We have no quarrel with you, Belasco. Let us go,” Kurt said, as he wrapped his tail around Kitty's ankle.

“Indeed. I'm here to help you out, actually,” the demon lord said, still grinning wickedly. “Take a look.” He gestured to the wall behind him, and the red velvet curtain fell away. Cages lined the wall, and in each was one of their teammates.

“Shit,” Kitty muttered, pulling herself free of Kurt's iron grip. “Let go, I'm _fine_.”

Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on her, and she stalked towards the cages.

“Sorry, little Cat, but you can't visit them right now,” said Belasco, who put out a hand to stop her. Kurt leaped for her, tackling her away from him.

Kitty scowled at him. “Cut it out,” she snapped, ignoring his hurt expression. She stood up, phasing free of both of them. “Look Belasco, we have no way of knowing if those people are real or if it's some stupid joke you're playing on us. So let me go over there and talk to some of them and see what's really going on. Unless you're afraid I'm gonna pop the locks, free 'em all, and kick your shiny red ass.”

His eyes narrowed as he regarded her. Kurt got back to his feet, biting his tongue to keep from begging her to be quiet. Belasco smiled suddenly. “Still not one to back down, are you? You may approach. But don't do anything stupid or I won't let you leave.”

Kitty ran across the stone floor towards the cages, and Belasco stepped between her and Kurt. “I think the little kitty wants to be left alone,” Belasco taunted.

Kurt crossed his arms and flicked his tail. He decided to see if their guess was correct. “When did you start taking on sidekicks?”

“Only when it's most beneficial to me.”

“Of course. And who is your colleague?”

“Haven't you guessed? _You_ should know her quite well. Quite _personally_. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful reunion when she's done executing your family there,” he gestured to the X-Men.

“What could _you_ possibly gain from working with Amanda Sefton?” Kurt said, his eyes never leaving Kitty's form.

“That's between me and Miss Sefton. You'll have to ask her yourself when you see her.” Belasco turned to Kitty, who was trying to figure out the locks. “Enough. Both of you, _begone_!”

They stood in the open doorway of the hotel room. Kitty slammed the door shut and shoved past Kurt into the room. “Shit,” she said. “Shit, shit, _shit_!”

“Was that real?” Kurt said, staying well away from her.

She whirled. “It was definitely real. Amanda's damned demons chased them all down, zapped them into those cages, and—oh! Here's the best part— _she left us on purpose_! Why do you think she did that? Any ideas? Well, I'll _tell_ you. It's because she _hates us_ and when she comes for us, she's giving me to Belasco and keeping you like some freaking pet!”

Kurt let her rant, her rage continuing in a torrent of words while he sat quietly and listened. He didn't dare try to touch her, she was already upset with him about Limbo. Finally she stopped and went into the bathroom. He heard the water running in the sink. He lay back on the bed, trying to figure out what the hell to do about his enraged demon sorceress ex-girlfriend and his almost-as-angry current girlfriend.

Kitty joined him on the side of the bed. “Listen,” she said, and her voice had lost its edge. “I get that you want to keep me safe, but I'm still one of the X-Men. I can still take care of myself, and if you hold me back like that, you're actually putting me in more danger.”

What could he say? “You're right. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.”

“I know you meant well. I know you only want to keep me safe, and I appreciate that, but I'm no damsel in distress.” She patted his hand, then kissed his cheek. “Thank you for caring.”

“I will always want to keep you safe,” he said, “But I will do my best to remember that you are as capable as you always have been.”

“I'll remind you if you forget.”

“I've no doubt of that.” His stomach rumbled and they were both reminded that they had not eaten yet.

“I'm hungry. Let's eat if it's still open,” she glanced at the clock. They only had about ten minutes before the breakfast bar closed.

 

After breakfast, they spent hours working on a strategy that might offer them some small chance of saving their friends and not getting killed. They couldn't defeat Amanda and her demons alone, that was a definite. Inevitably, she'd capture them. So the question was what to do after she had them? Kitty didn't like to admit it, but it all boiled down to a big question mark. They had no idea what to expect, and therefore no way to seriously plan for it.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long. After Belasco informed Amanda of his little game within her game, she conjured up her teleport disc and pulled them over to her current location in Germany, near her mother's home.

Demons surrounded them, and Amanda stood directly in front of them, sword at her side and armor covering her, making her look like a mockery of Illyana.

“Hello lover. Miss me?” she said to Kurt, who remained silent. “Don't you want to argue with me? Or fight me? Go ahead, _try_.”

“ _Nein_ , I don't think so.”

Amanda's face revealed nothing. She lashed out so fast that if Kitty hadn't been touching his arm to phase them, they'd be dead already. _That was unexpected_ , she thought. Amanda became even more furious, if possible, and began hacking at them, while they jumped back around the circle, which closed in tighter and tighter with each blow. Then the demons rushed them and phasing couldn't save her, and teleporting away was suddenly something he couldn't do. Amanda watched with glee in her eyes, licking her lips in anticipation of _making them pay_. She strode over to the demons holding Kitty, and pointed her sword into her neck taking note of Kurt's struggles increasing on the other side of the circle.

“I knew this would be distressing for you. Relax. _I'm_ not going to do a thing to her. I'll leave that to Belasco.” Amanda turned back to Kitty, hissing into her face. “You're going to pay for everything you did.”

“Why the hell do you hate me so much?” Kitty shrieked, still struggling against the demons.

Amanda came so close to Kitty's face that she tried to back away instinctively. “You exist.”

She nodded at the demons, and they vanished in a pool of light. “Just you and me, lover,” she said to Kurt. “You're mine now, and you're going to do everything I tell you to. First let's go see how Kitty's getting along with Belasco, shall we? It seems like something that makes you _unhappy_.”

 


	20. Oh No He Didn't!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprises occur. Getting close to the end.

Kitty landed prostrate at Belasco's feet. He was seated in his throne tapping his fingers and leering at her. She glanced past him, but the curtain was in place again. There were shackles on her wrists, probably inhibitor bracelets, she thought.

“Welcome back,” Belasco said. “Come join me.” He indicated a smaller throne next to him.

Kitty shook her head. “Never.”

“Shame. Have it your way, then,” Belasco said, and she found herself in a cage beside the rest of the X-Men. She sank to the floor to think.

He hadn't killed her outright. That was a positive. Kurt wasn't here, though, and that was a negative. She couldn't get out of the cage without her powers, which were not working right now, and as she scanned the line of cages, the rest of the team seemed to be as defeated as she was.

 

Amanda arrived with Kurt moments later, eagerly demanding to see what he'd done with Kitty. Belasco waved at the cages as if he were bored.

“That's _all_ you did? No torture? _Nothing_? How am I supposed to use that against _him_?” she yelled, stabbing her finger in Kurt's direction.

“I think I've had about enough of your demands, little sorceress,” Belasco said, and he snapped her mouth shut. “You came here _demanding_ I help you, _demanding_ I do this and that. No one demands _anything_ of Belasco, deal or not.” He rose from his seat. “In your case, _no deal_.”

Amanda's eyes narrowed in fury and fear but she could say nothing.

“I think I'd rather watch _you_ lose everything before you become mine for those thousand years.”

 

Cage doors opened behind him, spilling X-Men, and Amanda lifted her sword, trying to call to her demons to attack. Not until the X-Men were upon them did the demons finally fight back. Without Amanda to instruct them, they were as useless as the rocks they were made of. The ones holding Kurt released him to fight, and he joined the others in the chaos. Amanda chased him, shoving people and demons aside in her drive to punish him for everything she hated about her life. Kurt teleported away, landing behind Kitty, who had wrested one of the demons' swords away. She tossed it at Kurt.

“What was all this for, Amanda? What are you so angry about?” he asked as she thrust her sword at him. He parried it easily, dodging demons as well.

“Rrrrrgghhhh!” she yelled, unable to speak. Belasco hadn't released his spell on her yet.

Without the augmented power of their leader to aid them, the demons began to fall to the X-Men. As their ranks thinned, the demons began to retreat, scuttling off to dark corners of Limbo to hide. Belasco, still on his throne, watched with an amused expression, tapping his fingers as if waiting for the next part of the performance, which was taking far too long.

Kurt and Amanda faced off, swords clashing again and again. Kitty stood with Ororo, watching in fear and worry. “She won't stop until he's dead,” Kitty said. Logan, from the other side of Ororo, agreed.

“An' he won't kill 'er.”

Something in the conversation made Kitty's thoughts turn. Logan was right. Kurt wouldn't kill Amanda, probably couldn't. But she would kill _him_. Kitty chewed her lip as she watched them circle again and again. Both were tiring. Perhaps Kurt hoped to simply wear her out. He was a better swordsman, but she was using magic to help her.

Amanda moved her hands over the grip of her sword, and it began to glow. At the same moment, Kurt misstepped and fell, and Amanda pinned him. Kitty gasped and the X-Men rushed forward.

 


	21. A Culmination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost to the end.

Kurt knocked Amanda's boot aside and rolled away before the team descended upon the two combatants. He leaped to his feet and away from her. The rest of the X-Men stood behind him, weapons and fists at the ready. Amanda eyed them, anger and hatred burning within her.

Belasco strode through the group of X-Men and tapped Amanda on the shoulder. She could speak again, and began railing at him. Belasco stopped her again.

“Silence!” he shouted. “You don't learn very well, do you?” He motioned to a wall, and another demon stepped out, dressed elegantly in a frock coat and hat. Kitty watched Amanda's eyes widen in fear, then morph into hate as she recognized the demon.

“Azazel,” she said.

Belasco laughed. “You really thought I would betray one of my fellows for your pitiful vengeance? _Never_. But you still owe me a thousand years of service. I did, after all, honor our deal to give you power enough to kill Azazel and the X-Men. Pity you couldn't do it.” Belasco's hand went around Amanda's throat and she dropped her sword with a clatter.

For all that she was trying to kill them, Kurt couldn't stand to see someone being threatened by the demon lord. “Stop it Belasco,” he shouted. Wolverine grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Why should you care about her?” Belasco laughed. “Oh. You don't understand yet, do you? Perhaps she should explain. Or, better yet, her mother.”

Belasco motioned and Margali stood beside her daughter, looking confounded. “What is the meaning of this, Belasco?” She turned. “And why is _he_ here?”

Azazel strode forward. “Hello my dear, _dear_ Margali,” he said smoothly, “It seems you and your daughter have a bit of a vendetta against me. You know I won't stand for that.”

“You cretin,” Margali spat. “You left us with _nothing_! Left me saddled with three children!”

“They _are_ your children, Margali,” he replied.

“Amanda is mine. _You_ are responsible for the others!”

Kitty was sure she could hear Kurt's heart beating in the silence around them.

Azazel walked slowly around Margali and Amanda while Belasco stepped aside. “Perhaps I _am_ responsible for Stefan,” he said with a smug display of teeth, “and I never denied leaving my other son in your care, but do you really mean you didn't love them?”

“You left us with _nothing_. We here hated and shunned by _everyone_ ,” Margali said.

Amanda stood listening silently, watching Azazel slowly circling them like a predator.

“You are a sorceress now, as you were then. You didn't starve. You weren't destitute. You are only angry because I would not give you the power you so desired. _My_ power.”

Margali slapped him.

Belasco spoke again. “What shall we do with them, my friend? Cages? Dungeon? Feed them to the wraiths?”

“Any of those are acceptable to me,” Azazel replied. “But I think we better finish the job we've both been waiting for.” He eyed the X-Men, who were closing ranks on the remaining demons, preparing to engage them all.

Belasco muttered mystical words and Amanda and her mother were enclosed in one of his cages. Her mother collapsed and Amanda knelt beside her.

“We have to get free, Mother, we must kill them!”

Margali breathed heavily and stared up at her daughter. “Weak.”

“What? Not now, Mother! I need your help.”

But Margali didn't move.

Belasco called up hordes of his own demons to battle the X-Men. Azazel turned to the X-Men and unsheathed his sword. “I'll begin with you. _Son_.”

 

Two demons against the entire corps of X-Men should have been a fair fight, but demons don't fight fair. Kurt, already tired from fighting Amanda, attacked Azazel, but the red demon seemed to be in twenty places at once.

“No then, why don't you come join me, son? We could rule Limbo together,” Azazel taunted.

“Never, Azazel,” Kurt shouted, catching the red demon in the back with the tip of his sword. Azazel howled, spun, and sliced Kurt's arm. They were evenly matched, but Kurt was tired and now, injured. Every time he struck Azazel, the demon healed his wounds, even faster than Wolverine could.

The battle was becoming desperate. The demons didn't tire. They multiplied. They had mystical weapons and two of the most powerful demons on their side.

Inside the cage, Amanda and Margali watched the fight with growing concern.

“Mother, you lied to me about Kurt,” said Amanda.

“The only lie was not telling you his parentage,” Margali replied. “It won't matter soon, anyway.” The X-Men were going to lose again.

“If the X-Men are defeated, no one will ever save us. No one will ever defeat Azazel or Belasco.”

“But they'll be dead. Isn't that what you want?”

Amanda sneered. “Of _course_! But if they lose, then we have no hope of rescue. Kurt will come back for us if we only make him think we're sorry.”

Margali studied her daughter's face and decided she might be right. She clung to Amanda's arm and with some difficulty, sat up. “We must work quickly, my daughter, or they will know what we are doing.”

The women held out their hands, passing them between the bars, and magic erupted from them.

Kitty blinked and looked around. They were on the lawn of the Xavier Institute.

 


	22. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end. Thanks for reading!

Injured teammates lay in the clinic. Everyone else had gone to the kitchen or their rooms or to help in the clinic. Kurt was on the back porch talking to Logan. Kitty was sitting with Lockheed in the front room of her suite with the door open.

She was trying to figure out what had happened in the last seconds in Limbo. She would probably never understand exactly, but still, she turned it over and over. Every time she came back to the same conclusion. Amanda and Margali had sent them home. Why? What did Kurt think of it all? In the rush of activity following battle, they hadn't had much time to sit and talk. She'd seen him only in passing, a brief flicker of smile in his eyes, or a curl at the corner of his mouth.

 

It was well after dinnertime when Kurt tapped on her door and came in. She put down the book she was trying unsuccessfully to read and made room for him beside her, lifting Lockheed to her other side.

He sat down, propping his feet on her table as she tucked her head against his chin.

“I had no idea about Stefan,” Kurt said.

“You okay?”

“ _Ja_ , it's just one more thing to work through.”

Kitty twined her fingers through his, and he held tight.

“What do you think about our mysterious arrival home?” she asked.

“Amanda and Margali did it,” he said.

“My thought, too. Any guesses why?”

He sighed. “Probably part of some new, terrible scheme they've crafted. I don't think we've seen the last of them, but I don't want to think about that right now.”

She tipped her chin to see his face. “What do you want to think about?”

Kurt leaned down and kissed her.

 


End file.
